Head Start programs in central and western New Mexico are getting millions of dollar to provide education and health services to poor children.
Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., says the Mid-West New Mexico Community Action Program will get $5.5 million a year in federal funds for the next five years to continue its Head Start projects serving children in Valencia, Socorro, Cibola and McKinley counties.
The Head Start program provides child development services to help preschoolers develop the early reading and math skills they need to be successful in school. Head Start programs also provide health, nutritional, social and other services.
In 2012, Mid-West NMCAP helped nearly 1,000 children, with almost 75 percent living in households with income below the federal poverty line.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.