Report that Head Start could end alarms providers for the early childhood education program

Yahoo

15-04-2025

Children outside with a child care teacher at The Playing Field, a Madison child care center that participates in the federal Head Start program. (Courtesy of The Playing Field)
A news report that the Trump administration is considering ending the federal government's Head Start program has alarmed providers and parents who rely on the child care and early education program.
'It would be absolutely devastating,' said Jen Bailey, executive director of Reach Dane, which operates 14 Head Start centers in Dane and Green counties. 'The children and families we work with are some of the most vulnerable folks in our communities. The parents in those communities rely on the care we provide to stay employed.'
USA Today reported Friday that the Trump administration 'is considering a budget proposal that would zero out funding for Head Start.' The news report quoted an anonymous administration official who said the White House funding blueprint for the 2026 fiscal year doesn't allocate money for Head Start.
Responding to the report Monday, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) tied the proposal to President Donald Trump's goal of extending the 2017 tax cuts enacted in his first term.
'Shutting down Head Start — taking care away from kids, firing teachers, and making child care even more expensive for parents — all so President Trump can hand out new tax breaks for the wealthy and well-connected is flat out wrong and you can be sure I will fight this proposal at every turn,' Baldwin said.
Head Start was founded in 1966, part of the War on Poverty undertaken by President Lyndon Johnson. It provides child care and preschool for families with incomes up to the federal poverty guideline. Children living in foster homes are also eligible for Head Start.
In Wisconsin more than 15,000 children are enrolled in more than 300 Head Start child care centers across the state, according to the Wisconsin Head Start Association. With more than 4,300 employees, Head Start ranks in the top 100 employers in Wisconsin, said Jennie Mauer, the association's executive director.
'At least 70% of our families have a parent who is either working or in school full time,' Mauer said Monday. The remaining families include grandparents who are retired but full-time caregivers for their grandchildren as well as families unable to work due to disabilities or who 'are working through some very, very significant challenges.'
She predicted that the impact from ending the program wouldn't stop with the families who rely on Head Start.
'If Head Start isn't there, if this program were to shut down, surely there'll be tremendous cascading economic impacts in our communities,' Mauer said. 'I think for most of the families, it would create a huge labor disruption. With no safe place to have your kids while you're at work, it'll create a disaster.
Fears for the survival of Head Start are escalating as the state's overall child care sector is increasingly under strain. As many as 25% of child care centers in a survey released April 10 said they could close without continuing support in the next state budget.
April Mullins-Datko is Head Start director for ADVOCAP, a social service agency serving Fond du Lac, Winnebago and Green Lake counties. She said that the agency's four Head Start centers would likely not survive the loss of federal support.
'We would lose services for the 202 children we serve,' Mullins-Datko said. 'It would exacerbate the child care crisis we have in our communities, which then has negative impacts on our available workforce.'
I think for most of the families, it would create a huge labor disruption. With no safe place to have your kids while you're at work, it'll create a disaster.
– Jennie Mauer, Wisconsin Head Start Association executive director
ADVOCAP's centers include three in Fond du Lac County and one in Green Lake County, with 193 families relying on the program for the care and early education of their children.
'Ninety-three percent of my families are working or going to school full time,' Mullins-Datko said.
The agency's Head Start federal contract is supposed to be good through Dec. 31, 2028, Mullins-Datko said, but with reports of defunding she fears that won't be honored: 'There just doesn't seem to be any kind of adherence to law and contracts.'
Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council provides social services in Buffalo, Jackson, Trempealeau and Eau Claire counties in West Central Wisconsin. The agency's programs include nine Head Start centers enrolling 442 children. Of those, 382 children are in preschool and 60 are in Early Head Start, for children from birth to age 3, said Thanh Bui-Duquette, Western Dairyland's Head Start director.
Three centers are in cities — two in Eau Claire and one in Altoona — but the rest are in rural communities.
'We meet the needs of each individual community,' Bui-Duquette said. 'The needs of the urban Eau Claire area look very different from rural Trempealeau County.'
Even with jobs, 96% of the families with children in Western Dairyland's program have incomes below the federal poverty guideline. For children from those families, she said, Head Start has been demonstrated to improve long-term outcomes — increasing the chances of graduating from high school and going on to higher education, and reducing the chances of ending up in the criminal justice system.
'It's important to have that solid foundation early on, especially for children from disadvantaged families,' Bui-Duquette said.
The news that Head Start is in the crosshairs of budget-writers in the Trump administration follows other jolts to the program in the last two months.
In late January and early February, Head Start operators reported widespread problems in their efforts to collect standard payments from the federal government. Under Head Start contracts, programs incur an expense then submit documentation through a federal online portal to get reimbursed. Head Start programs reported that payments stalled, for nearly two weeks in some cases, without explanation.
Payments have since resumed, but Mauer said directors are reporting demands for more information holding up payments.
'They're getting substantial delays for things that are accepted expenses, which is concerning,' she said.
On April 1, Head Start operators learned that the program's five regional offices across the country were closed without any advance notice, including the Chicago office that serves Wisconsin and five other states in the Upper Midwest.
Those events and the report that the program could be defunded have rattled Head Start employees and the parents who have counted on the program, operators say.
'Families and staff are both really scared and concerned,' said Bailey, the Reach Dane director. 'Families are reaching out, worried the program is going to close, asking, 'Is my child still going to be able to go to school?''
Reach Dane's human resources staff has been interviewing applicants for teaching jobs in the coming school year, and applicants are nervous about whether the job will exist, she added.
Bailey said the program is trying to be transparent with employees and families about the uncertainty and fight for the program's survival, all without sparking panic.
'Trying to figure out how to navigate and inform folks when there's no communication is a hard place to be,' she said.
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