{"id":2569,"date":"2025-11-04T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/?p=2569"},"modified":"2025-11-04T13:46:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T13:46:13","slug":"head-start-programs-in-danger-after-government-shutdown-funding-lapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/04\/head-start-programs-in-danger-after-government-shutdown-funding-lapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Head Start programs in danger after government shutdown funding lapse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Head Start, a free learning program for children from\u00a0low-income\u00a0families, is next on the chopping block as the government shutdown nears record length.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than 100 Head Start programs<\/a> are in danger of closing soon or already shuttering some operations after funding\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0come on a Saturday deadline.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s both the effect on young children and the effect on their parents and families and the broader community,\u201d said\u00a0Melissa Boteach, chief policy officer of Zero to Three.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is high-quality early education that includes a lot of\u00a0wrap-around services and early screening, all kinds of things that help kids to have the strongest possible start,\u201d Boteach added. \u201cIt’s also a really important form of child care … You have a work commitment,\u00a0and,\u00a0all of a sudden, you’ve come to find out that because\u00a0Congress has not opened\u00a0the government, that you don’t have child care on Monday.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nationwide, Head Start serves more than 750,000 children. Last year, the federal government provided $12 billion to the programs. <\/p>\n

That money was distributed to 1,600 different grant recipients\u00a0nationwide,\u00a0and the programs have different start dates for funding,\u00a0rotating\u00a0the first of each month across all 12 months.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In October, which was the first month for the shutdown, only 6 programs were\u00a0impacted. But for November, another 134 Head Start\u00a0programs\u00a0lost funding.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNovember\u00a0programs\u00a0serve\u00a0more than 65,000 children and families, and they are doing everything that they possibly can to keep their doors open,\u201d said\u00a0Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While some have\u00a0reserves\u00a0they can tap into, most of these programs are expected to close quickly or by the end of the month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re going to be doing everything that they can to find other resources … they’re leveraging\u00a0reserve funds.\u00a0They’re\u00a0leveraging\u00a0partnerships with school districts, some states that are chipping in. Some have\u00a0leveraged\u00a0philanthropy. Others have lines of credit \u2014 really a wide array of\u00a0additional\u00a0resources\u00a0they’re\u00a0trying to tap into to provide\u00a0basically temporary\u00a0reprieve to be able to keep operation,\u201d Sheridan said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Department of Health and Human Service, like the rest of the Trump administration, is publicly blaming the Democrats for the shutdown and says once it is lifted, the office will\u00a0expedite\u00a0awards for Head Start programs that missed their payments.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pressure is mounting on both parties to reach a deal to end the shutdown soon as funding for government programs dwindles and benefits such as food stamps are in danger of running dry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One Head Start center in Vancouver, Wash., closed multiple classrooms Monday due to the lapse in funding.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joel Ryan, executive director of the Washington State Association of Head Start and Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, said rural Head Start programs\u00a0are likely to close first due to the lack of resources and reserves to keep going.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPrograms that are in more rural and remote areas are more fragile in sort of the constant, I would say, constant assault by the Trump administration and Congress, whether it’s Head Start or other programs that impact kids and families because they don’t have other resources,\u201d Ryan said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“One of my\u00a0Head\u00a0Start programs in Seattle, they’re able to\u00a0use some cash reserves. They have a little bit more financial flexibility, but the smaller programs\u00a0don’t\u00a0have that. They\u00a0don’t\u00a0have those available resources,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But even bigger programs only have a limited\u00a0amount\u00a0of resources before they\u00a0have to\u00a0make changes, such as shutting down classes or laying off staff.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Furloughing or laying off staff only creates more problems, as there is a shortage of child care workers and many in the field are struggling themselves.<\/p>\n

Forty-three percent of early educator families depend on at least one form of public support, such as food stamps, to survive, according to the Center for the Study of Childcare Employment.\u00a0Government\u00a0assistance\u00a0programs are also in turmoil due to the shutdown.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt\u00a0some point, many educators\u00a0are\u00a0coming\u00a0to the conclusion\u00a0that they\u00a0don’t\u00a0know if they have a stable\u00a0job\u00a0and they might need to look elsewhere or find something else to do, even though they love working with young children,\u201d said\u00a0Boteach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And once December hits, a new round of Head Start programs will lose\u00a0funding,\u00a0and the cycle will grow until the shutdown is\u00a0over.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMost Head Start programs will still be there to provide the critical services that Head Start provides to children and families, but there is a strong, sizable number that will be forced to\u00a0close and\u00a0more and more\u00a0as the shutdown drags on,\u201d Sheridan said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Head Start, a free learning program for children from\u00a0low-income\u00a0families, is next on the chopping block…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2570,"href":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569\/revisions\/2570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}