A new report shows that many low-income Texas families struggle with access to early child care assistance programs.
The report, titled"Public Transit Accessibility (and Burden) of Head Start Centers," highlights the need for improved public transit to and from Head Start programs, which provide education and support services to children under five. The report is part of the National Head Start Association's new initiative addressing accessibility and safety on public transit routes to Head Start centers.
“In Texas, there are 214 Head Start locations where the bus stop is just beyond walking distance for a small child, but within one mile of the center," said Abigail Seldin, co-founder of the Civic Mapping Initiative, which helped compile the report.
More than a third of Head Start programs in Texas aren’t easily accessible by public transit, according to the report.
Seldin said it shows that transit agencies like Dallas Area Rapid Transit have an opportunity to support low-income families in Texas.
Kathryn McCartney, CEO of Head Start of Greater Dallas, said she applauds the national effort to improve transportation for Head Start families.
"We are interested in new initiatives that remove barriers to access public transportation," McCartney said. "We do have some areas like in Grand Prairie [and] Carrollton that are not on the [DART] line."
McCartney said that some North Texas families have trouble picking up their children at centers because their bus route ends after their work hours.
She added that Head Start of Greater Dallas often partners with DART to provide voucher passes to families based on needs.
While DART's data for bus and light rail routes are available online, Seldin said many other agencies in Texas don't publish their data in a way that software like Google Maps can process. That makes it hard to conduct transit surveys in the state.
"Transit agencies can upload the addresses the locations of Head Start preschools into their systems and look at where they fall along existing service routes," Seldin said.
She said another solution would be to move a transit stop just a couple of thousand feet, which can make a big difference in making the centers more easily accessible to children and families.
“Our suggestion is that Head Start families and Head Start operators be at the table when decisions are made about schedules, stops, and routes,” Seldin said.
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