Latest news with #HeadStart
Axios
6 days ago
- Business
- Axios
Child care costs squeeze Virginia families
The cost of child care in Virginia and around the nation is skyrocketing, with a new report finding that it's outpacing overall inflation. Why it matters: Rising child care costs put a huge financial strain on families, Axios' Emily Peck reports. They can force some parents — typically women — to either ratchet back their working hours or leave the labor force entirely. For single parents, the calculus can be even more painful. By the numbers: The average annual cost of daycare tuition in Virginia for two children — one toddler and one infant — rose to $30,680 last year, according to data from Child Care Aware, an advocacy group. That's the highest price tag for child care in the Southeast by far — and roughly $8,000 more a year than it costs in North Carolina. That's about 32% of the median household annual income in Virginia, based on Census data released in 2024. Stunning stat: The cost for center-based child care for an infant would eat up 39% of a single parent's salary, per the report. Meanwhile, the average annual cost of daycare tuition nationwide for two children was $28,168 — about 35% of U.S. median household annual income. Zoom out: The U.S. doesn't have publicly funded universal childcare. However, the federal government does put money into the system for low-income kids through block grants to the states, as well as Head Start, the decades-old federal program that provides childcare, nutrition assistance and other services to the nation's poorest families. There were worries that the White House would stop funding Head Start, but the administration has said that won't happen.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Lutheran Services Florida steps aside from leading Head Start in Duval County amid federal rebid
Big changes are on the horizon for early childhood education in Duval County, as Lutheran Services Florida (LSF) will no longer lead the region's Head Start program. The federal Office of Head Start has notified LSF that it plans to begin negotiations with a different provider for the role. LSF has led the Duval County Head Start program for over a decade, serving between 1,000 and 1,400 children annually with early education, family support, and wraparound services. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Despite this long-standing presence, LSF officials said the decision to transition program leadership is not due to performance concerns. 'This decision has nothing to do with performance,' said Maria McNair, director of the LSF Head Start program. 'It's part of a standard federal rebid process designed to ensure continued program quality.' The rebid process, required periodically by the federal government, opens up leadership of Head Start programs to new applicants to ensure high standards are being met. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] While the name of the new provider has not yet been announced, the change is expected to impact the nearly 160 employees currently working under the LSF program. McNair says efforts are being made to help staff transition. 'We're trying to ensure that the majority of our employees transition over to the new organization,' she said. Despite losing the lead role for Head Start in Duval, LSF isn't leaving the area. The organization will continue offering Early Head Start services for children under age three, supported by a newly renewed five-year grant. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] 'We are still going to provide services here in Duval County for Early Head Start, which is for children who are under three. Our contract for the particular Grant was renewed for the next five years,' McNair confirmed. The Office of Head Start has not yet provided additional details or a timeline for when the transition to the new provider will begin. Requests for comment have not yet been returned. Action News Jax will continue to monitor this developing story and provide updates as more information becomes Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lawmakers pass tax increases on corporations, highest earners, but governor remains an obstacle
() The Maine Legislature on Thursday passed measures that would raise the tax rate on corporations and alter the state's tax brackets to provide relief for the middle class. Another proposal that specifically sought to raise taxes on millionaires, however, was rejected. All of these were determined by a handful, or in some instances just one, vote. And with such narrow margins, the chambers will be unlikely to overcome a potential veto from Gov. Janet Mills, who has already expressed her opposition. The advance of these tax changes comes amid the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee finalizing a budget plan to send to the Maine House of Representatives and Senate for approval, and the potential for increased tax revenue could be consequential. Advocates and some Democratic lawmakers specifically pushed for the Legislature to adjust taxes as a means to continue to fund the health and child care programs that Mills proposed cutting in her budget proposal. So far, only some of those proposals have made it into the committee's budget plan. Notably, the committee rejected Mills' suggested cuts to childcare worker stipends and Head Start. Meanwhile, the committee included some initiatives to save or raise money, such as rolling back funding for mental health programs and pensions, as well as increasing the cigarette excise tax. Both chambers backed LD 229, which would increase the base of the state's tax brackets. It would do this by both increasing the number of tax brackets and by adding a top tax bracket for high income earners. Maine currently has three tax brackets with tax rates of 5.8%, 6.75% and 7.15%. The top tax bracket is currently for any individual making more than $61,600. The bill would add two more brackets for the highest earners, which would be taxed at 7.75% and 8.95%. In the Senate, several critics of the bill said that raising tax rates on the wealthiest individuals would drive investors away. Though tax committee co-chair Sen. Nicole Grohowski (D-Hancock) said the state's tax code is currently 'upside down,' asking more proportionately from earners in the middle than those at the top. 'This bill is here to fix that,' she said. The ideas in this bill are not new, and could lend themselves to a veto, again. Mills' administration testified against the bill during its public hearing, reiterating many of the same concerns the governor had when she vetoed a bill last year that sought to adjust Maine's tax bracelets by adding a new top tax rate of 8.45% and expanding the lower tax brackets. While describing the bill as well intentioned in her veto message, the governor said the bill wouldn't reduce the tax burden for lower-income people because of the state's many exemptions, deductions and credits that more people have become eligible for in recent years. The governor also cited possible state budget challenges if Maine were to increase its reliance on a small number of taxpayers whose income is disproportionately composed of often volatile business. The other bill both chambers backed is LD 1879, which would raise the tax rate on corporations to support the agricultural economy, though the Mills administration is also opposed to this plan. Specifically, it would increase the top marginal corporate income tax rate to 10% on income over $3,500,000 for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026. This revenue would then be distributed to various funds and programs, such as the dairy stabilization support fund, agricultural marketing loan fund and business recovery and resilience fund, among others. Michael Allen, associate commissioner for tax policy in the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, testified against the bill on behalf of Mills during the public hearing, noting that it would make Maine's top marginal corporate income tax rate among the highest in the country. He also noted a number of technical concerns with the proposal. While both chambers have now passed LD 1879, it took several attempts for them to get on the same page. While the House initially passed this bill 77-67, the Senate failed to pass it with a 13-18 vote and subsequently voted against it without a roll call, returning it to the lower chamber in nonconcurrence. On Wednesday, House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) tried to recede and concur but his motion failed 65-78. The House then insisted on its vote to pass the bill and the Senate tabled it when it was sent back to that body on Wednesday. But on Thursday the Senate changed course, voting 18-16 to recede and concur with the House. Both chambers narrowly rejected what is commonly referred to as a 'millionaire's tax.' The proposal, LD 1089, was amended to a lower surcharge than initially proposed. It would place an income tax surcharge of 2% on the portion of a resident's taxable income beyond $1 million for single filers, $1.5 million for heads of households and $2 million for married people filing jointly. This revenue would then go toward funding public K-12 education. Originally, the bill sought to tax income over $1 million by an additional 4%, which would have mirrored a law recently passed in Massachusetts. The House failed to pass the measure 70-72 on Wednesday before voting against it without a roll call. The Senate ultimately did the same Thursday, after an initial vote to pass it failed 17-18. The Mills administration has also testified against this bill. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘All public health is local': Experts sound alarm on consequences of HHS shuttering regional offices
On a recent visit to Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, some floors in the mammoth office building bustled with people seeking services or facing legal proceedings at federal agencies such as the Social Security Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the lobby, dozens of people took photos to celebrate becoming U.S. citizens. At the Department of Homeland Security, a man was led off the elevator in handcuffs. But the area housing the regional office of the Department of Health and Human Services was eerily quiet. Healthbeat has looked into the concerns experts are voicing about the HHS closing regional offices around the country. In March, HHS announced it would close five of its 10 regional offices as part of a broad restructuring to consolidate the department's work and reduce the number of staff by 20,000, to 62,000. The HHS Region 2 office in New York City, which has served New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, was among those getting the ax. Public health experts and advocates say that HHS regional offices, like the one in New York City, form the connective tissue between the federal government and many locally based services. Whether ensuring local social service programs like Head Start get their federal grants, investigating Medicare claims complaints, or facilitating hospital and health system provider enrollment in Medicare and Medicaid programs, regional offices provide a key federal access point for people and organizations. Consolidating regional offices could have serious consequences for the nation's public health system, they warn. 'All public health is local,' said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. 'When you have relative proximity to the folks you're liaising to, they have a sense of the needs of those communities, and they have a sense of the political issues that are going on in these communities.' The other offices slated to close are in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle. Together, the five serve 22 states and a handful of U.S. territories. Services for the shuttered regional offices will be divvied up among the remaining regional offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, and Philadelphia. The elimination of regional HHS offices has already had an outsize impact on Head Start, a long-standing federal program that provides free child care and supportive services to children from many of the nation's families under the poverty threshold. It is among the examples cited in the lawsuit against the federal government challenging the HHS restructuring brought by New York, 18 other states, and the District of Columbia, which notes that, as a result, 'many programs are at imminent risk of being forced to pause or cease operations.' The HHS site included a regional Head Start office that was closed and laid off staff last month. The Trump administration had sought to wipe out funding for Head Start, according to a draft budget document that outlines dramatic cuts at HHS, which Congress would need to approve. Recent news reports indicate the administration may be stepping back from this plan; however, other childhood and early development programs could still be on the chopping block. Bonnie Eggenburg, president of the New Jersey Head Start Association, said her organization has long relied on the HHS regional office to be 'our boots on the ground for the federal government.' During challenging times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or hurricanes Sandy and Maria, the regional office helped Head Start programs design services to meet the needs of children and families. 'They work with us to make sure we have all the support we can get,' she said. In recent weeks, payroll and other operational payments have been delayed, and employees have been asked to justify why they need the money as part of a new 'Defend the Spend' initiative instituted by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, created by President Donald Trump through an executive order. 'Right now, most programs don't have anyone to talk to and are unsure as to whether or not that notice of award is coming through as expected,' Eggenburg said. HHS regional office employees who worked on Head Start helped providers fix technical issues, address budget questions, and discuss local issues, like the city's growing population of migrant children, said Susan Stamler, executive director of United Neighborhood Houses. Based in New York City, the organization represents dozens of neighborhood settlement houses — community groups that provide services to local families such as language classes, housing assistance, and early childhood support, including some Head Start programs. 'Today, the real problem is people weren't given a human contact,' she said of the regional office closure. 'They were given a website.' To Stamler, closing the regional Head Start hub without a clear transition plan 'demonstrates a lack of respect for the people who are running these programs and services,' while leaving families uncertain about their child care and other services. 'It's astonishing to think that the federal government might be re-examining this investment that pays off so deeply with families and in their communities,' she said. Without regional offices, HHS will be less informed about which health initiatives are needed locally, said Zach Hennessey, chief strategy officer of Public Health Solutions, a nonprofit provider of health services in New York City. 'Where it really matters is within HHS itself,' he said. 'Those are the folks that are now blind — but their decisions will ultimately affect us.' Dara Kass, an emergency physician who was the HHS Region 2 director under the Biden administration, described the job as being an ambassador. 'The office is really about ensuring that the community members and constituents had access to everything that was available to them from HHS,' Kass said. At HHS Region 2, division offices for the Administration for Community Living, the FDA's Office of Inspections and Investigations, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration have already closed or are slated to close, along with several other division offices. HHS did not provide an on-the-record response to a request for comment but has maintained that shuttering regional offices will not hurt services. Under the reorganization, many HHS agencies are either being eliminated or folded into other agencies, including the recently created Administration for a Healthy America, under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 'We aren't just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic,' Kennedy said in a press release announcing the reorganization. Regional office staffers were laid off at the beginning of April. Now there appears to be a skeleton crew shutting down the offices. On a recent day, an Administration for Children and Families worker who answered a visitor's buzz at the entrance estimated that only about 15 people remained. When asked what's next, the employee shrugged. The Trump administration's downsizing effort will also eliminate six of 10 regional outposts of the HHS Office of the General Counsel, a squad of lawyers supporting the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and other agencies in beneficiary coverage disputes and issues related to provider enrollment and participation in federal programs. Unlike private health insurance companies, Medicare is a federal health program governed by statutes and regulations, said Andrew Tsui, a partner at Arnall Golden Gregory who has co-written about the regional office closings. 'When you have the largest federal health insurance program on the planet, to the extent there could be ambiguity or appeals or grievances,' Tsui said, 'resolving them necessarily requires the expertise of federal lawyers, trained in federal law.' Overall, the loss of the regional HHS offices is just one more blow to public health efforts at the state and local levels. State health officials are confronting the 'total disorganization of the federal transition' and cuts to key federal partners like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CMS, and the FDA, said James McDonald, the New York state health commissioner. 'What I'm seeing is, right now, it's not clear who our people ought to contact, what information we're supposed to get,' he said. 'We're just not seeing the same partnership that we so relied on in the past.' This story was produced by Healthbeat and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
Elle
11-06-2025
- General
- Elle
Jupiter Is In Cancer - And It Wants You To Redefine What Family Really Means
Feeling a tug on your apron strings? A collective shift is coming today, June 9, as adventurous Jupiter sails into Cancer, the sign of women, home, and families. Jupiter spends approximately 12-13 months in each zodiac sign, blessing us with yearlong cycles in which to stretch, grow, and find our fortune. Even better? Caring, intuitive Cancer is Jupiter's happiest place in the zodiac, its 'exalted' position in astro-speak. Nevertheless, there's an odd balance to strike between Jupiter's nomadic urges and Cancer's nesting instincts. Jupiter is the free spirit; Cancer, the nurturing mother. The way we 'do' family life could change in unpredictable ways between now and June 30, 2026. FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE With conservatism on the rise among Gen Z, there might be a growing focus on the nuclear family. Population decline has become an existential worry—and an actual concern—in recent years. Hyperbolic Jupiter could drum up global worries about the extinction of the human race. And in Cancer, 'more is more' Jupiter could usher in a modern-day baby boom, at least for those who have the means to feed extra mouths. Here's a fascinating fact: Louise Brown became the first baby born by IVF on July 25, 1978, when—you guessed it—Jupiter was in Cancer. But baby fever could also feel equally dystopian. In the United States, fed-up tradwives have been quietly finding each other on TikTok, forming support groups in private chats and banding together to escape the oppressive lifestyle. Plus, without greater protections for reproductive rights, Jupiter in Cancer may struggle to deliver much of a baby boom in the United States. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, simply becoming pregnant has brought increased risk for some people, as miscarriages and stillbirths have led to a handful of criminal cases in select states. Simultaneously, social programs for families, like SNAP benefits and Head Start, are under threat. How do you afford a child, even if you want one? That struggle is sure to be a hot topic in the zeitgeist with Jupiter in Cancer. And despite the swing toward conservatism, heteronormative marriage could undergo a reputational reckoning. With Jupiter heading into Cancer, we may see more people cohabitating, consciously uncoupling, or skipping the whole 'white dress and mortgage' narrative altogether. Family will be redefined on our own terms. Regardless of your kid count, Jupiter in Cancer revs up the collective's maternal instincts. How do we care for each other? Nurture ourselves? Feel safe and protected? Those are bound to be hot topics over the next 13 months. And will the future be female? Jupiter in Cancer can bring a culture-wide shift with regards to women's rights, bodily agency, and access to power. Past cycles have definitely amplified these themes: On the heels of Jupiter's 2013-2014 odyssey in Cancer, Beyoncé brought gender rights to the VMAs, performing in front of a huge sign that read 'Feminist.' The same year, then-17-year-old Cancerian Malala Yousafzai became the youngest-ever person to win a Nobel Peace Prize for her work providing safe education for girls. As Jupiter flows through tender, tidal Cancer, the next 13 months will ask us to redefine what it means to belong. This transit invites us to weave stronger emotional bonds and to protect what's sacred—whether with chosen family or people who share our DNA. Expect fierce debates and heartfelt movements around reproductive justice, caregiving, and who gets to claim the title of 'family.' At its best, this cosmic cycle can birth a global reawakening around empathy, equity, and the power of community care. No, it may not look like a Hallmark card. But the future family is forming now—and if bountiful Jupiter has a say, it's got room for everyone at the table. ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE. Ophira and Tali Edut (The AstroTwins) are among the most sought-after astrologers and intuitive advisors of our times. As the longtime resident astrologers for ELLE Magazine and the authors of over 20 books, they are the advisors to a roster of CEOs, celebrities, global leaders and successful entrepreneurs. They've read charts for celebrities the likes of Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, and Emma Roberts. Their new book, The Astrology Advantage (Simon & Schuster), introduces The AstroTwins' revolutionary I*AM System, which simplifies the birth chart into three archetypes: Innovator, Authority, and Maven. On television, The AstroTwins have appeared as guest experts for Bravo, MTV, 'Good Morning America,' and the 'Today' show, and created the first streaming reality TV dating show based on astrology, Cosmic Love (Amazon Prime Video, 2022). Their work on the subject of 'spiritual technology' as an essential tool for business success has been featured in Fast Company and at leadership conferences around the world. Ophira and Tali have taught thousands of people their methods through their online platform, and at their signature retreats. Graduates of The University of Michigan, Ophira and Tali grew up in Detroit and currently live in New York and Seattle.
