MSHS Advocacy Resources
As many of our members work with their Congressional Office – please utilize the following documents to assist you with your visits. Each document is designed to update and education our Congressional leadership and their staff. Please let us know how your visits went and how we can assist in any follow up activities.
Your continued advocacy will be crucial as Congress finalizes funding, and a toolkit with core talking points is available below, to support your messaging when speaking to your members of congress or posting to social media.
Talking Points
The following talking points are designed to support your outreach to Members of Congress. We encourage you to use them in conversations with congressional offices and to share the written materials that highlight the national impact of MSHS, along with the fact sheets tailored to your specific grantee. Please note that all advocacy materials currently reflect data from program year 2022–2023; data collection for 2023–2024 is underway, and we will share updated materials as soon as they are available. Together, these tools can help elevate the story of MSHS and strengthen the case for continued support of your programs and the families you serve. If you would like assistance engaging your Members of Congress, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Feighan Team for support.
- The MSHS Program has been empowering farmworker families and supporting the agricultural economy since 1969. MSHS ensures children from birth to age five have access to high-quality early education, even in the most rural communities, and are cared for while their parents are working long and demanding hours in agriculture.
- The MSHS Program is the only Head Start program with a parent work requirement. In order to qualify for MSHS services at least one member of the household must be employed in agriculture - this includes dairy, poultry, vegetable farms and fruit orchards, nurseries, processing facilities and other industries that are essential to supporting the country's vital agricultural economy.
- MSHS Programs serve rural communities with limited access to childcare facilities. Over the course of an average program year some 450 plus MSHS centers, with 1,800 classrooms, are operating and offering full-day services in rural communities across the country. On average, MSHS programs employ some 9,300 staff, including teachers, teacher's aides, bus drivers, social workers and MSHS is often a vital employer to the rural communities it serves.
- MSHS Programs are Responsive to the Community. MSHS programs are currently operating in 34 states and decisions regarding the location of MSHS centers in the state, months of operation, and the number of classrooms are based on needs of the rural agricultural community being served.
- MSHS Programs support agricultural workers as essential workers. During his first term, President Trump deemed farmworkers "essential workers" during the COVID-19 emergency, recognizing that American families relied on agricultural workers to ensure access to fresh, affordable, and safe produce, dairy, and other agricultural products.