Children in the Yakima Valley are getting a lot of help from the federal government. A news release from ESD 105 today says the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Head Start has selected two Yakima County agencies to provide Head Start services for children and their families in central Washington.  The competitive grants awarded total more than $62.7 million for the service areas during the next five years.

The Yakima-based Educational Service District 105 will be expanding into the Head Start arena after being selected to oversee Head Start operations in the Upper Yakima Valley, Bridgeport, and East Wenatchee/Wenatchee.  The total grants for ESD 105 for the five years are more than $38 million.

ESD 105 will receive $4,853,344 for each of the next five years to oversee Head Start and Early Head Start for children 5 years old and under in Yakima.  ESD 105 will receive another $2,754,010 for each of the next five years to provide Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs at sites that serve Yakima, East Wenatchee/Wenatchee, and Bridgeport.

The Sunnyside-based Inspire Development Centers (Inspire) was awarded grants of more than $24.7 million over the next five years to expand its work in providing Head Start services for the areas of Sunnyside, Parker Heights, and Prosser.  Inspire will receive $2,225,875 for each of the next five years to offer Head Start programs for children 3-5 years old.  The agency will receive another $2,717,459 for each of the next five years to prove Migrant and Seasonal Head Start for children 5 years old and under.

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