After the 43-day government shutdown ended on Nov. 12, Head Start funding resumed, allowing programs that had been halted or threatened by frozen federal grants to begin operating again.
According to the First Five Years Fund, 135 programs were in danger of not receiving funds as of Nov. 1, along with the six other programs that did not receive payments in October, serving more than 65,000 children across 41 states and Puerto Rico.
Head Start is a national model that originated in 1965 to provide low-income families with a head start in education through preschool programs funded by federal grants. Additionally, these programs also provide families with comprehensive services, including health assessments and meals.
With the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), benefits being temporarily suspended during the shutdown, many Head Start programs that remained open stepped in to support families with extra food assistance.
According to Angel Barrios, the executive director of Izzi Early Education, collecting food donations can help, but it is not always practical for families to travel to a food bank to receive them. To bridge that gap, Izzi Early Education provided $100 gift cards to families facing urgent needs.
“There’s a very big family engagement component, because our hope is that we are able to support families to become more self-sufficient,” Barrios said.
Whether they are a nonprofit organization, such as Izzi Early Education, or a service provided by the county, such as Early Head Start by the Santa Clara County Office of Education, either type of organization can apply for Head Start grants.
Head Start programs operate with yearly renewals, so only those who had grant renewals during the months of October and November were significantly affected. Yet, according to Jerry Yang, the executive director of Kai Ming Head Start, repercussions can still carry over to receivers from later months if there is a backlog of funding distribution.
“Right now, there’s no one in the office to handle this, so they have a lot of things piling up for them to keep the program running nationwide. At this level, the shutdown really delayed all those works, which could delay the process of the next fiscal year for the grant application,” Yang said.
According to Melanee Cottrill, the executive director of Head Start California, there were four California providers with grants that started on Nov. 1, and in the case of the shutdown, it was predicted that those four might be impacted to the point of potentially having to close.
“Every year, Head Start brings $1.5 billion of our taxpayer dollars back to California. The loss thereof in any community has serious consequences,” Cottrill said.
Head Start is a federal grant system that directly provides local services with funds from the federal government. Each program must renew its grant annually throughout the 5-year period.
“If the grant is not renewed on time each year, the program loses its federal funding and may have to close if it doesn’t have other funding sources,” Cottrill said.
With even more closures happening nationwide, other major services were halted amidst the shutdown.
“While Head Start provides a variety of services, at its core is affordable childcare, which is the most crucial. Without it, parents cannot go to work or school,” Cottrill said. “These are not families that can simply pay for daycare elsewhere, as they mostly live under the federal poverty line.”
To join a Head Start program, families must meet three eligibility requirements. The family must have a child under the age of five, reside in the county, and be income-eligible, meaning they must meet the federal poverty guidelines. However, low-income guidelines are the same nationwide. This means that they remain unchanged even between large cities and small rural towns.
“Because it’s a federal benchmark or poverty guideline, it doesn’t matter if you’re living in a high-cost living area or a small town. Even though the cost of living may be slightly different, they use the same threshold,” Barrios said.
According to Cottrill, while Head Start programs exist nationwide, the impact of Head Start program closures was more pronounced in rural areas because fewer resources are available.
“Rural areas often do not have any other options for childcare, so there is an argument that the loss of Head Start in a rural community would have a disproportionate impact on that community,” Cottrill said.
Still, while federal funding was shut off for some time, programs also received help from the state and county to fill any gaps from frozen funds from the federal government.
“As needed, the county will step in to make sure we are we can provide uninterrupted services to children and families. For now, the impact is short-term and we are secure, but for the long term, it’s very concerning,” Yang said.
According to Yang, nonprofit organizations can typically operate for two months without any external money, including that from the state.
“We are very fortunate in the state of California and the County of San Francisco that they have a system in place. We have multiple funding sources that keep us going, and that’s the benefit of not relying 100% on one funding source,” Yang said.
Both students and families benefit from Head Start. Losing Head Start services means that parents can no longer work as they have to pay more attention to their children, which impacts their future income and purchasing power.
According to Barrios, she expresses her concern about what would happen to working families if their program were to be affected.
“If we had to close, then a lot of families may not be able to go to work. We’re in essence providing the childcare during the time that the family is working or going to school. They may rely on our program to be operating so that they can go to work,” Barrios said.
Federally funded programs, such as Head Start, are especially helpful for families in need of assistance, whether it is with childcare, education, food, health, or other essential services. Barrios points out that there are some cities where early education is scarce, so it is important that these programs continue.
“For some communities, Head Start might be the biggest program in that area. If there’s a closure or loss, they may not have access to preschool or infant programs,” Barrios said.
