(Oklahoma Voice) After doubling funding this year to improve its early childhood centers, the Cherokee Nation has completed the first of seven rehabilitated child care facilities.

The tribal nation cut the ribbon last week for a newly constructed $7.3 million location in Nowata and has upgrades planned for six other centers in eastern Oklahoma. The facility will provide services in early childhood education, health and parent involvement for low-income families with children age 3 and younger, tribal leaders announced.

The Cherokee Nation increased funding from $40 million to $80 million earlier this year to replace or renovate its aging child care centers.

Image

The tribe will upgrade Head Start locations in Tahlequah, Jay, Stilwell, Salina, Kenwood and Pryor’s MidAmerica Industrial Park.

Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council also approved a separate $77 million budget to construct new child development centers in locations where such services are scarce. Those projects include a new $25 million center in Catoosa, one of the tribe’s largest workforce areas with its Hard Rock Hotel & Casino nearby.

The Cherokee Nation’s Head Start programs currently serve 900 children.

Head Start is a federally funded initiative through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services assisting children from low-income households from birth through age 5. These programs focus on early learning, childhood development, health and family wellbeing.

The tribal nation has provided Head Start centers since 1978.

Hoskin said the program has improved the welfare of thousands of Cherokee families.

“This investment coupled with our ongoing work to provide more quality, affordable child care across the reservation helps ensure our youngest of Cherokees who rely on us for early learning have all the tools they need to continue thriving,” Hoskin said in a statement.

The Verna D. Thompson Early Childhood Education Act is the vehicle for the $80 million rehabilitation initiative. The Cherokee legislation, which first passed in 2021, is named after the tribe’s longtime Head Start director.

“Verna has been the cornerstone of these early childhood learning opportunities for decades and we’re excited to see how our Head Start centers take these efforts to the next level in the years to come,” Deputy Chief Bryan Warner said.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and X.