Dive Brief:
- A prolonged federal government shutdown is threatening early learning services for thousands of infants, toddlers and preschoolers from low-income families who participate in Head Start, according to a statement from the National Head Start Association Thursday.
- Currently, six Head Start programs serving 6,525 children are drawing on emergency local resources to stay open. Another 134 programs serving 58,627 children across 41 states and Puerto Rico are in jeopardy if federal funding is not restored by Nov. 1.
- Additionally, all Head Start programs have been flat-funded since fiscal year 2024 and are feeling the financial pressures of increased costs for transportation, health insurance, utilities and other expenses, NHSA said.
Dive Insight:
In Massachusetts, six programs serving 2,830 children and their families could be impacted beginning Nov. 1 if federal funds do not begin to flow again, said Michelle Haimowitz, executive director of the Massachusetts Head Start Association, in a Thursday statement.
Haimowitz said federal funds make up at least 80% of the Head Start programs' budgets in the state. "Without it, programs might be forced to cease operations and lay off staff for the remainder of the shutdown," she said.
Yasmina Vinci, executive director of NHSA, said Head Start — which celebrated its 60th anniversary earlier this year — provides more than just early education.
"When parents go to work or school, they do so knowing their children are safe, learning, and cared for," Vinci said in the Thursday statement. "That sense of stability is priceless, and it’s exactly what’s now at risk.”
Additionally, The Child Care for Every Family Network, a nonprofit that advocates for equitable access to publicly-funded child care, warns that the longer the federal government shutdown continues, the higher the likelihood that families would be left without child care services.
The uncertainty in these early childhood services began when Congress couldn't agree on a spending plan for fiscal year 2026. On the first day of the fiscal year, Oct. 1, the federal government shut down due to a lapse in funding.
Nearly two weeks into the shutdown, on Oct. 10, the Trump administration fired 4,232 employees across the federal government, including nearly 1,000 staffers in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to court documents. The RIFs impacted HHS' Administration for Children and Families office that oversees Head Start programming.
At the U.S. Department of Education, the latest reduction-in-force notices were expected to impact about 466 employees, including those who support programs that provide before- and afterschool care, The Child Care for Every Family Network said.
On Wednesday, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order to immediately cease the mass firing of federal employees during the government shutdown.
