News/Advocacy
A Unified Voice for Iowa Head Start/Early Head Start programs!
Now, more than ever, the voice of early care and education is critical not only in Washington, D.C but also in communities across Iowa. IHSA represents the unified voice of the state Head Start community to legislators in support of policies, initiatives and partnerships that positively impact our state Head Start/Early Head Start community.
Our Current Newsletter
Learn more about what is currently going on at Iowa Head Start Association by reading our newsletter.
IHSA Board of Directors Information
Why is advocacy important to Head Start programs?
The Iowa Head Start Association engages in advocacy efforts to assure the continued success of the Head Start program. Because Head Start is funded primarily by public sources, securing adequate funding for our academic, social, health and family services is one of our primary advocacy objectives. We do this by making sure human services decision makers know about the wide range of services Head Start provides; about the individual successes it experiences, about the research that proves its effectiveness and about the savings it ultimately delivers to society. This means establishing and maintaining positive, ongoing contact with the Iowa legislative branches at the state levels. It also means keeping abreast of issues, trends and legislation that have the potential to affect Head Start, and letting legislators know and understand our point of view about such issues.
Advocacy in Action
IHSA works to increase the understanding and support for Head Start/Early Head Start among policymakers and the public through a wide range of education, advocacy, and public awareness activities such as a state public policy agenda, state Capitol Hill visits, sign on letters, as well as regular collaboration with the National Head Start Association on strategic initiatives.
The Iowa Head Start Association partners with the Iowa Community Action Association to contract lobbying services to support our agenda from Eide Walton to advocate and work with individual members of the Iowa Legislature, legislative leadership, and staff. Information is provided to IHSA concerning proposed regulations, their status, opportunities for comment to the agency, and the Rules Review Committee, and requests for agency rulemaking.