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Harris County, TX, July 9, 2026, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo prevented Commissioners Court from defunding one of Harris County’s most impactful early childhood programs during today’s Commissioners Court meeting

Commissioners considered cutting nearly $772,000 from Early REACH – a successful, proven, evaluated early childhood program that has provided thousands of Harris County kids with access to free, high-quality child care in every corner of the county. The proposed cut would have forced Early REACH to close its doors months earlier than planned, abdicating the county’s responsibility to parents, who expected the program to continue

“Early REACH is uplifting kids, helping parents go to work, and strengthening our early childhood workforce. We’ve already lost the trust of the community by breaking the promise that we would put our early childhood programs on the ballot, so the public could decide whether or not they are shuttered. I continue to ask my colleagues to let the voters decide whether they would like to see the early childhood programs continue. At the very least, let’s not accelerate the damage by ending one of our most successful programs even earlier than planned,” said Judge Hidalgo.

Commissioners Court considered these cuts despite a fourth independent evaluation showing that Early REACH is making child care more accessible and affordable for kids and families. Highlights from the evaluation include: 

• The program is helping kids’ development. Preliminary findings suggest that many children who were previously assessed as having below average social-emotional skills were now demonstrating typical social-emotional skills after participating in Early REACH. 
• Teacher turnover rates in Early REACH remained well below national averages, which provides greater stability for kids. 74% of Early REACH directors report turnover rates below 20%.
• The program has made child care more affordable and accessible. Most families (80%) now reported little to no financial burden related to child care, and the majority (88%) indicated that Early REACH care options met their scheduling needs.

Commissioners first attempted to cut Early REACH at the June 11, 2026 Commissioners Court meeting. Today, the Court voted 3-2 to fund Early REACH through the end of the year.

Because the Commissioners Court refused last year to simply ask voters whether they’d support a penny tax to maintain Early REACH and other early childhood programs, the popular and successful programs will shutter by December 31, 2026.

These programs will end despite significant ongoing need in Harris County for high-quality, affordable early childhood education. In Harris County, the average family spends more on child care than they would pay for the cost of in-state college tuition at a four-year university. More than 30,000 families are on the waitlist for subsidized child care in Harris County, according to a 2025 University of Houston study. 

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