Beginning Nov. 1, more than 65,000 children will be at risk of losing access to Head Start, the federal early-learning program for low-income families. That's because federal funding for individual Head Start programs cannot be disbursed while the government is shut down.
The leaders of 134 local Head Start programs, as well as another half-dozen whose funding lapsed on Oct. 1, are now debating how long they can go before closing their doors, says Tommy Sheridan of the National Head Start Association.
"They are scrambling," Sheridan says. "There is a ton of hard work, a ton of goodwill, a ton of dedication – but hard work, goodwill and dedication don't keep your doors open, unfortunately."
Among the states hit hardest by this Nov. 1 deadline: Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Ohio.
Nationally, Head Start serves roughly 750,000 infants, toddlers and preschool-age children, providing not just childcare and early learning but also free meals, health screenings and family support.
Local Head Start programs are funded annually, though at different times of the year. Some programs get their money on Oct. 1, others on Nov. 1 and so on. As such, Sheridan says, if the shutdown lasts until December, still more programs would see their funding run out.
Without federal funding, Sheridan says, some programs will have to close immediately. Others have the resources to stay open at least another week, in hopes that politicians in Washington can resolve their differences.
Head Start closures could hit Florida's migrant farm workers
Daniel Jaime manages six Head Start centers across three Florida counties as part of the East Coast Migrant Head Start Project – a nonprofit that serves the children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
"It's a pretty hard deadline," Jaime says of Nov. 1, when his centers will have to close unless their funding is somehow extended. "We're all hoping for a miracle that things change."
Jaime was born in Florida and attended Head Start as the child of a farmworker. He later sent his own children to Head Start as a farmworker himself. Right now, he says, fall peppers and cucumbers need picking, with tomatoes due next month and strawberries soon after. If he can't provide Head Start care to the children of the workers that growers rely on to harvest these crops, he worries, markets and ultimately consumers could feel the blow.
In the short term, Jaime also worries that some workers may have no choice but to leave their children in less-than-ideal settings to keep working – like with an adult in the community who's informally looking after many of the children who would otherwise be in Head Start.
"That's a big thing for me right now, is knowing that we have our babies out there, and we can't serve them," he says.
How some centers will manage to stay open
While some programs may be forced to close after Friday, others have cobbled together plans to stay open at least a little longer.
"We have determined that we can continue services through Nov. 14," says Corey Holcomb, who runs a Head Start program serving more than 250 children across Michigan's Upper Peninsula. "After that, if the shutdown is still going on, we would have to close."
Holcomb says she has been exploring funding options since the beginning of October. That includes weighing taking out a loan, something her agency and board of directors decided was "not a viable option." Her plan now is to lean on reserve funds while also temporarily cutting expenses.
"We've asked for deferments on rent payments and some utility bills," Holcomb says.
The programs that may be best positioned to stay open, even without federal funding, are in the roughly 14 states that also provide state dollars to support Head Start, including Oregon.
"I have hope," says Suey Linzmeier, executive director of Head Start of Yamhill County in northern Oregon. Her program serves 314 children or, as she puts it: "314 more opportunities to change a life for the better."
While many Head Start programs receive little state financial support, Linzmeier says roughly 60% of her program's funding comes from Oregon. Without those dollars, she would likely have to close their doors on Nov. 1.
"I don't even know what we would do" she says.
Head Start celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. And while it has enjoyed bipartisan support in the past, the Trump administration reportedly weighed cutting the program from its budget proposal and, earlier this year, temporarily withheld Head Start funding.
Holcomb in Michigan says a staff member recently told her, "If somebody in Congress could just come and spend one hour in our classroom and see the work that we're doing and how important it is…"
Her voice trails off.
"Our children need us."
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