Federal payments to Head Start were significantly delayed this year compared to 2024, in violation of the Seizure Control Act, according to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. (Photo: SDI Productions via Getty Images)
With access to child care already considered a crisis in Ohio, the state’s Head Start facilities are facing their own challenges, including closures amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Head Start is an income-based federal program that includes preschool and Early Head Start programs for infants, toddlers, and pregnant people.
Funding for the program is provided through local agencies that “tailor the federal program to the local needs of families in their service area, in accordance with federal website dedicated to the program.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 62 grants totaling more than $440 million were distributed to Ohio in fiscal year 2024.
But that money is dwindling quickly due to gridlock in the U.S. Congress over reopening the federal government.
The funding lapses began Oct. 1 when no deal was reached on Capitol Hill, with Democrats refusing to give in to demands to extend tax breaks under the Affordable Care Act, with Republicans holding out and leaders saying they would not negotiate until the government reopened.
Without action, Head Start programs across the country had no grants awarded by November 1, affects over 65,000 children in 140 programs in 41 states and Puerto Rico.
It could also impact other funding for community programs, including about 1,600 across the country.
As of 2024, over 33,000 children were enrolled in Ohio’s seven Head Start programs, of which 1,741 were in foster care and 1,660 children were experiencing homelessness.
According to data, the largest age group participating in the state’s Head Start program are 4-year-olds – over 12,000 enrolled in the program. federal data.
The closure of Head Start “represents a significant loss to Ohio’s children and workforce and underscores the enormous impact these closures have on the community,” said Jodi Norton Trimble, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Children and Youth Services.
The program employs 1,335 Ohio kindergarten teachers at a salary of $40,013 per year and nearly 1,000 teachers in infant and toddler classrooms.
Teachers in the Early Head Start state receive $36,152, according to HHS data.
According to the Ohio Head Start Association, Inc. without the return of federal funding sources, all Head Start providers in Ohio are at risk of closure.
Two Ohio programs have already closed classrooms due to suspensions, in Scioto and Highland counties.
Allen and Coshocton counties are scheduled to close in less than two weeks, according to the association.
Highland County Community Action Organization, Inc. announced the closure of schools effective November 1 at the end of October, saying that staff would be furloughed and classrooms would be closed until the government reopened.
Coshocton County Head Start, Inc. has been operating since 1972 and employs 140 children and 57 employees.
In October, the program said that with the continued suspension of operations, the organization would need $220,000 to survive November.
Coshocton County Head Start Executive Director Susan Craddock said in a statement that they are “doing everything we can to keep our classrooms open because our families depend on us.”
“Parents need to work and go to school knowing their children are safe, learning and well cared for,” Craddock said in October. “But we can’t sustain this without federal and local support.”
Then, in a Nov. 6 letter to families, Craddock said the community and “many people have rallied around us to keep our program open over the last two weeks.”
“Unfortunately, due to the ongoing government shutdown and interruption in federal funding, our program will need to temporarily close beginning November 14,” Craddock wrote.
The plan is to reopen the program once the shutdown ends and the grant is received.
The state’s Head Start Association said providers have “exhausted their federal funding” and the five remaining locations are “operating on borrowed time – a combination of donations, community support and organizational reserves.”
“This shutdown is disrupting working families,” said Julie Stone, executive director of the Ohio Head Start Association.
“Parents lose child care, teachers lose paychecks, and children lose the stable, nurturing environment that helps them thrive. These are real people, with real consequences – and Ohio’s youngest citizens deserve better.”
Stone told the Capital Journal that the total potential impact of the Scioto and Highland closures, along with planned school closures in Allen and Coshocton, will impact 1,042 children, 55 classrooms and 286 staff members.
“We are hopeful that the government shutdown will end soon, but we are unsure what reopening will look like with a reduced number of federal staff to support the review and awarding of grants,” Stone said.
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