EXCERPT FROM: Rhode Island News
By Lynn Arditi
PROVIDENCE — A working mother wouldn’t turn down a pay raise, right?

PROVIDENCE — At least 1,500 children no longer qualify for the state’s childcare subsidies and many parents have been scrambling to find a safe replacement.

AS THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL year and the Rhode Island General Assembly session draw to a close and families are gearing up for weekends at the beach, we must remember that 400 vulnerable young children in the state may be turned away from Head Start in September because of the state budget crisis. This proposed budget savings comes at the expense of our children and creates future costs for our public schools and for the state at large.

While the percentage of Rhode Island children living in poverty has dropped to 15 percent from 21 percent in recent years, child advocates worry this progress will be derailed by a series of deep cuts to welfare and other safety-net programs for low-income families proposed by Governor Carcieri.