Families brace for continued gaps in Head Start service despite government reopening

Vital federal funding is finally flowing to Head Start centers across the nation following the recent government shutdown, but the effects of the 43-day impasse continue to reverberate through programs serving America’s most vulnerable children and their families.

During the shutdown, approximately 140 Head Start programs representing 65,000 enrollment slots missed their annual federal grants, forcing some centers to furlough staff or close completely. These closures created significant hardship for thousands of low-income families who rely on the program for early childhood education, meals, and support services.

“The damage has been done in a lot of ways,” said Michelle Haimowitz, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Head Start Association. “We know that it’s going to take some time to fill back up.”

Even with President Donald Trump signing a government funding bill Wednesday night to end the shutdown, program operators anticipate weeks of delays before funding fully resumes. Federal workers at the Office of Head Start are returning to what Haimowitz described as “a mountain of work” that will take time to process.

The backlog isn’t solely attributable to the shutdown. Staffing reductions at the Office of Head Start earlier this year had already created processing delays for various administrative matters since April. “Those delays have just been piling up since April, with no fault to the existing civil servants at the Office of Head Start,” Haimowitz explained. “They just have half the capacity that they had just a few months ago.”

Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start, said the federal office will expedite funding and contact affected programs about when they can expect federal money. However, the process of reopening shuttered centers isn’t as simple as flipping a switch.

Centers must rehire furloughed staff and reconnect with families who may have been forced to make alternative arrangements. Program administrators worry that both staff and families might be reluctant to return given the demonstrated instability in the federally funded program.

The impact extends beyond just the centers that have already experienced funding gaps. Some Head Start agencies scheduled to receive their funding in December are preparing for potential delays as federal workers address the backlog of grants.

In Xenia, Ohio, home health aide Gena Storer is working extra hours to build a financial cushion after being warned that her daughter’s Head Start center might temporarily close on December 1 if funding is delayed. If that happens, her 4-year-old daughter, Zarina, will stay home, forcing Storer to adjust her work schedule around her fiancé’s 12-hour shifts at a Target distribution center.

For Storer, Head Start has been transformative for Zarina, who previously received speech therapy for her limited speaking. “Since starting Head Start in September, she’s become more talkative and outgoing because she learns from having conversations with her classmates,” Storer said.

The 31-year-old mother’s stress is compounded by uncertainty surrounding SNAP federal food aid payments, which her 72-year-old mother also relies on. “If my mom didn’t have us to help her, what would she do?” Storer wondered.

Some programs made the difficult decision to remain open during the funding lapse, absorbing costs without guarantee of reimbursement. In Knox County, Indiana, Louis Russ and his wife continued operating their home daycare despite not receiving Head Start payments since October for six of their eight enrolled children.

“Staying open and keep taking the children we have, that was the easy part,” Russ said. “Figuring out how we’re going to stay open if this goes on too long, that’s the tricky part.”

The couple took pay cuts and is planning a pop-up toy shop in their garage to offset potential losses. Like many in childcare, they operate on thin margins, with approximately three-quarters of their budget going to payroll.

“Our program, being so new, we were running pretty bare bones as is,” Russ explained. “And especially in child care, which doesn’t have a huge profit margin, there’s only so much wiggle room when things like this happen.”

The East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, which partners with Russ’s daycare, was among the programs affected by the funding lapse, resulting in more than 1,000 children of migrant farmworkers across 10 states losing access to services.

As centers gradually reopen and funding resumes, the shutdown’s impact on early childhood education for America’s most vulnerable children will likely persist well beyond the immediate crisis, affecting enrollment, staffing stability, and family trust in a program designed to provide consistency for those who need it most.