BATON ROUGE – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) today toured the Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) Head Start and Early Head Start Center in Hammond. Cassidy assisted the Regina Coeli Child Development Center in securing critical grant funding from the Department of Health and Human Services so they could purchase new and replace 12 old modular buildings, as well as continue providing Head Start services in Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington Parishes.
“The SLU Head Start program, the teachers and the staff truly give vulnerable children a head start.” said Dr. Cassidy.
While there, Dr. Cassidy met with Susan G. Spring, Ph.D., who is the Executive Director of the Regina Coeli Child Development Center, under which the SLU Head Start and Early Head Start Center operates.
“We appreciate Senator Cassidy joining us today to celebrate opening a new building for Southeastern Head Start and Early Head Start Center,” said Dr. Spring. “If it were not for him and his staff the funding for the building would have been delayed and we might not be standing here today.
“In addition to the celebration, we talked about the additional funding provided to Head Start to meet the needs of children and families and employees during the Covid pandemic,” continued Dr. Spring. “In spite of the additional funding and the need to serve children, we, like many employers, find ourselves struggling to hire people because of access to supplemental unemployment funding or funding from the CARES Act. We will continue to serve children and families who desperately need to be in a safe place and learning.”
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