Hundreds of Organizations Sign on to Letter to Congress Supporting Healthy Start

Washington, DC

Last week, First Focus on Children, the National Healthy Start Association, and nearly 200 national, state, and local partner organizations urged leaders in the House and Senate to support funding for the Healthy Start program at $145 million in Fiscal Year 2026.

Healthy Start funding has been threatened over the last several appropriations cycles, but has continued to be successfully funded with bipartisan support. Read the letter here: https://campaignforchildren.org/…/letter-of-support…/

Thanks to the organizations that signed onto the letter, and the efforts of Healthy Start Communities across the U.S., a bipartisan vote of 26- 3 in the Senate, Labor Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Committee, Healthy Start is included at the funding level of $145,250,000. The full Senate must vote on the Labor HHS bill, and the House of Representatives must still draft its version of the Labor HHS bill before both chambers pass the FY2026 Budget. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TODAY, and ask that they re-authorize and fund Healthy Start. Find your Members of Congress here: https://www.congress.gov/members… .