A $1.1 million federal grant will enable San Luis Obispo County’s Early Head Start to more than triple the number of children enrolled in the program that helps youngsters from their mothers’ pregnancy through age 3.

Early Head Start assures a healthy birth, ensures that mothers get adequate pre-natal care and provides families with pre- and post-birth education that will help them raise healthier children, according to Biz Steinberg, chief executive officer of the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County, which administers the program locally.

Steinberg said she and her colleagues are “very excited” at what she called “the largest addition of funds for low-income children and their families that we have seen in many years.”

The local Early Head Start program covers 76 youngsters, and this grant will enable it to add 178, for a total of 254.

U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, who announced the grant, said the money and the program are crucial to children, and “a wise investment in the future” during difficult times.

“For years, this successful program has provided critical assistance and services to thousands of families in our community,” Capps went on.

Steinberg encouraged those who believe they might qualify for the help to call her office at 544-4355.

The grant is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.