Roslindale's Malone, Gov. Patrick Discuss Early Ed at Horizons for Homeless Children Center

Gov. Deval Patrick and Roslindale's Matt Malone, the Secretary of Education, toured the Horizons for Homeless Children headquarters on Wednesday at the Edgerley Family Community Children’s Center in Roxbury, as an ongoing effort to promote increased investments in early education.

“Every child in Massachusetts deserves the opportunity to receive high quality early education,” said Patrick via press release. “We know from educators, from academic research, from years of public policy and from our own experience as parents, that investing in our children at a young age pays huge dividends for them and for our community as a whole.”

The Governor’s FY14 budget calls for increased investments in "high-quality education" in Massachusetts including a $131-million investment in the early education and care system to provide funding to work to eliminate the Department of Early Education and Care’s (EEC) current birth to age-five waitlist. Funding initiatives include assisting early educators and providers with attaining higher levels of proficiency, skill and quality; increase educational programs and supports for parents and family members to further engage them in their child’s success; and expand efforts to provide comprehensive support services to children and their families, according to a state press release.

Patrick and Malone toured Horizons headquarters and visited with students. He also participated in a roundtable discussion with parents and teachers involved with the center.

"We are at a turning point for early education in Massachusetts," said President and CEO of Horizons for Homeless Children Asa Fanelli via press release. “Governor Patrick has endorsed a plan that ensures every child has access to high-quality early education from birth to age five. Horizons has been advocating for this for years. Each week we provide 3,000 young homeless children with high-quality earlyeducation, opportunities for play, and family support services. We have seen first-hand that intervening early, especially for the most vulnerable children, can lead to school, work and life success.”