ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Total Action for Progress, or TAP, is receiving a nearly three million dollar federal grant to support Early Head Start programs in the Roanoke Valley.
Senator Mark Warner announced Friday the money from the Department of Health and Human Services will support child care and early education programs for low-income families.
TAP's Resource Development Director, Amy Hathaway, says the program saves school systems from having to get kids up to speed later on, making it a good use of taxpayer money.
"The tax dollars you put into this program are the kind that save tax dollars later on, and by some estimate two to seven times, so you really, in the end it's an investment and I think that's really how people are beginning to look at it," said Hathaway.
The program is going into its second year.
Hathaway says the state looked at how many children were in better situations thanks to the childcare program, and decided it deserved the grant.