P.R. gets $6.2M for Environmental Quality Board, Head Start and Health
Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner in Washington, Jenniffer González, announced the approval of $6.2 million in federal funds allocated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services for child care, health services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The EPA approved $105,600 for the Environmental Quality Board to help the agency continue its work under the water quality control program. This program is designed to raise awareness and public understanding of the protection and improvement of water quality.
Meanwhile, the HHS’s Children and Families Administration allocated funds through its Disaster Assistance to Head Start Centers program. The assignment is part of hurricane recovery funds, which González lobbied to include in the Bipartisan Budget Act of February 2018.
Among the Head Start centers that received funding for social services to children are the Christian Military Academy ($229.826); Quintana Baptist Church ($925.875); and the Municipality of Canóvanas ($146,000.) Under the Head Start and Early Head Start program, the Juventud Inc. Service Center received $3.6 million.
Finally, the Puerto Rico Department of Health received $182,898 for primary care offices, while the CDC centers received $1 million for the prevention and control of chronic diseases and associated risks. Both allocations came from the HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration, González said.
