By Victoria Brito

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – UTRGV has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to continue funding Head Start programs that provide comprehensive child care for children up to 3 years of age from low-income families.

HHS’s Administration for Children and Families-Office of Head Start, along with the Office of Head Start, awarded the grant to the UTRGV Early Head Start-Child Care Program, which partners with the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school district and child care centers in the area to provide comprehensive child care services.

Services provided include language development, school readiness and self-sufficiency for low-income families and expectant mothers. Those families are engaged in programs like GED and other work skills opportunities.

More than 372 children are enrolled in the program in various locations in Pharr:

• The Buckner Early Head Start campus cares for 268 students.
• PSJA Sonia Sotomayor High School High School cares for 32 children.
• An additional 72 children are in child care partnership facilities Little Explorers 1 and 2, Kids Quest Learning Academy, and Super Kids Academy.

Dr. Hilda Medrano, professor of Human Development and School Services in the UTRGV College of Education and P-16 Integration, is principal investigator and executive director of the five-year, $35 million grant, which began Sept. 1 and runs through 2024.

“In the Early Head Start Program, we provide early education, stimulate their brains and help the children develop language skills,” Medrano said. “The children receive the direct services, and we engage families in the children’s education.”

The program has full-time staff for day-to-day operations, and professors in the UTRGV College of Education and P-16 Integration are involved in research.

UTRGV students can volunteer or complete their mandated observation hours at the facility.

“One reason this Early Head Start Program is so important is that the first three years of life are very necessary for the development of the brain, for language, and for social and emotional growth,” Medrano said. “It is important for children from low-socioeconomic homes to receive early care, education and brain stimulation that will help prepare them for school.”

For more information on UTRGV-PSJA Early Head Start Child Care Partner Program, contact hilda.medrano@utrgv.edu or call (956) 665-3891.

Dr. Hilda Medrano, professor of Human Development and School Services in the UTRGV College of Education and P-16 Integration, is principal investigator and executive director of a five-year, $35 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to continue funding Head Start programs that provide comprehensive child care for children up to 3 years of age from low-income families. (UTRGV Archive Photo by Paul Chouy)