More than 2,000 children in Florida lost access to Head Start centers because of the government shutdown.
The federal-to-local grant program provides funding to community-based centers that offer free child care and other services, like food support and healthcare, to kids under five in vulnerable households. Children in low-income families, those experiencing homelessness and kids in foster care are eligible to enroll.
Many Head Start centers ran out of money on Nov. 1, forcing several locations in Florida to close their doors and send staff home.
Head Start closures
Three Head Start programs — Capital Area Community Action Agency, Inc., East Coast Migrant Head Start Project and Redlands Christian Migrant Association, Inc. — managing dozens of locations across Florida paused some operations this month.
ALSO READ: Some Head Start centers temporarily close in Central Florida amid shutdown
Daniel Jaime, the administrator for the East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, oversees six locations that serve children across the greater Tampa Bay region. The centers specifically serve children of seasonal and migrant farmworkers in Polk, Hardee and Manatee counties.
When funding ran dry, Jaime said the more than 300 children and families enrolled in their Head Start centers lost access to child care.
"Normally, I’d be walking into a center where, you know, we have children, teachers …doing educational activities; parents coming in and out; buses dropping off children … the smell of the food being cooked in our kitchens,” he said.
Since Nov. 1, their facilities have sat empty.
“We had 311 children that were enrolled on Oct. 31,” Jaime said. “I don’t know where they’re at.”
Early learning staff without work
Jaime said 283 employees at these Head Start locations are without work right now, too.
Macrina Vega, an area coordinator for the Redlands Christian Migrant Association, Inc., oversees several Head Start locations in Hillsborough and Manatee counties.
She said 185 employees, including bus monitors, teachers, health workers and program assistants, are furloughed from the five Head Start locations she oversees in Ruskin, Wimauma and Palmetto.
Vega said some employees have to look for work elsewhere; she’s heard that some staff have applied for jobs at nearby daycares in the private sector.
“I've got in the back of my mind that — once we do reopen — we might have staff that do not return, and so that's another issue coming back,” she said.
Hurdles to reopening
Head Start programs that closed their doors and sent staff home this month could face obstacles to reopening, even once federal funding is restored.
Federal lawmakers could reach a deal to fund the government as early as this evening.
“This is something that program directors and staff are very concerned about. ... Head Start is effective only with an effective staff,” deputy director for the National Head Start Association Tommy Sheridan said.
Retaining early learning staff, who are highly trained but underpaid, is difficult without the added stress of a government shutdown, he said.
“The early childhood workforce is one of the lowest-paid workforces in the country. So we're adding additional challenges on our staff, of possibly having to seek food support and other types of community support themselves,” he said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Head Start programs serving the Tampa Bay region had not received a notice of funding award from the federal government.
Program administrators for the East Coast Migrant Head Start Project and Redlands Christian Migrant Association, Inc., said that will be the first step toward reopening.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
