PROVIDENCE — An estimated 400 poor children will be knocked out of the popular preschool Head Start program under a proposal submitted by the state Department of Human Services last week that caught lawmakers and child advocates by surprise.

Governor Carcieri has yet to commit to the plan, which would save Rhode Island taxpayers $3.3 million by cutting all state aid to the comprehensive program aimed at 3-  and 4-year-olds living in poverty. The federal government would continue to provide roughly $16 million to finance the majority of Head Start in Rhode Island, which currently serves 2,369 children, according to the DHS.

The proposal angered child advocates just days after they learned of another plan to cut subsidized health insurance for nearly 18,000 low-income Rhode Islanders, including more than 10,000 children.

“We’re talking about the youngest and the poorest,” said Lynda Dickinson, chief executive of CHILD Incorporated, a Head Start provider in Kent County. “We can’t let it happen.”

The Head Start cuts are among a host of cost-cutting recommendations to surface in state department budget requests in recent weeks. Human Services has also suggested new insurance copays for low-income families; reduced reimbursement rates for hospitals, nursing homes and childcare providers; and the elimination of welfare benefits for an estimated 1,600 people.

The governor has worked personally with each department to help craft a spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1, in an effort to avert a budget deficit projected to be as high as $450 million.

But Carcieri’s definite plans won’t be known until he releases his state budget proposal next month. And while the governor’s budget generally sets the agenda for budget discussions, the final spending plan requires General Assembly approval.

“In order to resolve Rhode Island’s $450 million budget crisis, Governor Carcieri and the General Assembly will be forced to make some very difficult decisions about what spending taxpayers can afford,” said Jeff Neal, the governor’s spokesman. “The Department of Human Services budget request reflects some of the options that are on the table for consideration.”

Neal continued: “As we work to solve the state’s budget problems, the state’s leaders will need to determine what level of spending Rhode Island taxpayers can afford. As part of that, they will also need to decide how generous the state’s safety net should be.”

Just 16 states supplemented federal Head Start financing last year, according to an analysis by the National Institute for Early Education Research. But those states include all of New England, except for Vermont.

Head Start is a federal early-childhood program primarily open to 3-  and 4-year-olds in families at or below the federal poverty level, which is $17,170 for a family of three.

“These kids are at or below poverty. You don’t get much poorer than that,” said Dickinson, who also serves as the chairwoman for the New England Head Start Association. “From the get-go, Governor Carcieri has been saying there would be a safety net for the neediest …. If you cut the state’s youngest and poorest children, there is no safety net.”

Head Start offers preschool services to ensure that poor children begin school “on an equal footing with their more economically-advantaged peers,” according to a policy brief produced by Rhode Island Kids Count, a child advocacy group. The analysis notes that children from families at or below the poverty level are typically 18 months behind their peers in learning and social skills at age 4.

Head Start offers services that go beyond traditional childcare, according to Kids Count policy analyst Leanne Barrett.

She said the program has federal standards that require educational programs led by trained teachers, parent involvement, mental-health counseling and a nutrition plan. Head Start providers also must ensure that each child has health-care coverage.

Sen. John C. Revens Jr., D-Warwick, who played a key role in the state’s decision to supplement Head Start financing in the 1980s, noted that there has been consistent bipartisan support for the program in Rhode Island and in Washington, D.C. In fact, Congress signed a Head Start reauthorization bill last week.

“That would have a tremendous ripple effect for poor families,” Revens said of the proposed cuts. “I would hope at the end of the day, when everyone has a chance to think it through, they’d realize that’s the kind of cut that would cost you more in the long run than it would save you …. We’ll see what the governor proposes, but that’s pretty surprising that DHS is suggesting something that draconian.”

State departments have shaped spending plans for the coming year based on instructions from the governor’s budget office.

Carcieri hopes to shave $100 million from the state deficit through a sweeping work-force reduction plan, but the bulk of the $450-million hole will be made up by cuts to state departments and human service programs. The governor has pledged not to raise taxes to help balance the budget.

Meanwhile, social service advocates plan to hold a news conference this afternoon to protest proposed cuts to the state’s RIte Care program that would dramatically reduce eligibility for low-income children and their parents.

“We’ll respond to this outrageous proposal, to warn Rhode Islanders about the unacceptable economic and human cost this type of wholesale attack on RIte Care will have on our state,” Dawn Wardyga, of the Rhode Island Parent Information Network, said in a statement. “The truth is we have seven months ahead to impact state budget decisions and must all work together to demand more responsible, long-term solutions for the people of Rhode Island.”

speoples@projo.com