Latest news with #Mauer
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Head Start payments to Wisconsin providers are half what they were a year ago
Children at The Playing Field, a Madison child care center that participates in the federal Head Start program. (Courtesy of The Playing Field) Federal payments to Wisconsin's Head Start programs in the first three and a half months of 2025 are half what they were a year ago, exacerbating worries about the future of the program that provides child care and early education to low-income families. The Office of Head Start's payments to Wisconsin program operators from Jan. 1 through April 15 of this year were down by $35 million from the same period in 2024, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) said this week. Nationwide, Head Start program operators have received $943 million less during that period this year compared with the period a year ago, according to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington), who published a table of calculations comparing disbursements for every state in a press release. The table shows Wisconsin disbursements of $34.5 million as of April 15, compared with $69.5 million in the 2024 period. Baldwin contrasted the potential impact with the pledge by the White House and the Republican majority in Congress to extend tax cuts enacted in 2017 during Trump's first term. 'The idea that the president is actively working to give the biggest corporations and wealthiest Wall Street guys a new tax break while taking away preschool and child care from Wisconsinites is beyond the pale,' said Baldwin, vowing to fight actions of President Donald Trump she described as 'defunding Head Start.' The calculations in Murray's table are based on Head Start disbursement data that Senate Democrats pulled from the Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). While most states in Murray's table had lower disbursements compared with a year ago, Alabama, Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia all showed increases. The calculations put the big-picture numbers on funding disruptions that Head Start providers have been experiencing in the last three months, said Jennie Mauer, executive director of the Wisconsin Head Start Association. Those disruptions first surfaced after Trump took office, with delays of up to two weeks in late January and early February for Head Start programs seeking authorized payment for their expenses. More recently, the disruptions have continued as providers who have submitted the required documents for payment have been confronted with unexpected demands for 'more information' Mauer said Friday. 'The [federal] administration is really messing around, pulling out the foundational blocks of grant operation,' Mauer said. In order to get approved for a grant, recipients must provide a detailed accounting of how it will be spent, she said. To get payment, providers must submit detailed documentation that the expense it covers has already been incurred. 'This is a highly regulated system,' Mauer said. 'There's a very rigorous initial grant application process, and then on an ongoing basis grantees are demonstrating, 'We told you what we're going to spend the money on. Now based on what I told you, I'm asking for that money.'' The disclosure of the drop in Head Start funding comes a week after a published report raised the possibility that Head Start will be zeroed out of the next federal budget. It also comes as some providers wait for information about their upcoming grant replenishments, Mauer said. Head Start grants are provided under multi-year contracts signed with providers. The money itself, however, does not come to providers in large lump sums but in smaller amounts paid upon the submission of documented expenses, Mauer said. Every six months, an allotment from the provider's grant is made available, she said. Those funds are not paid directly to the provider, however. The money is set aside for the provider to draw on after submitting expense documents through the federal online payment system. Providers' grant cycles start on the first of the month. In Wisconsin, providers whose grant cycle started Nov. 1 have now received confirmation of their next grant allotment for the six months starting May 1, Mauer said Friday. But with the previous funding access problems and then the sudden closing three weeks ago of half of Head Start's national offices, including the Chicago Region 5 office that served Wisconsin and five other states, providers were apprehensive. 'The level of uncertainty and chaos is so dramatic,' Mauer said — in contrast not only to the Biden administration, but also the previous Trump administration. Until this year, 'these kinds of questions and uncertainties didn't exist.' Three providers whose grant cycle started Dec. 1 are waiting to learn whether their next allotment will become available starting June 1 as scheduled. Mauer said the Senate Democrats' calculations appear to be 'showing the cumulative effect' of the access to HHS funding streams by the team working for DOGE, an agency directed by billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk. DOGE is the acronym for the Department of Government Efficiency, although the office is not a cabinet department, and many of its claims of government savings have been questioned. The hold-up on information is having 'a tremendous negative effect on our programs and it's alarming,' Mauer said. 'When we think of what are the impacts of Region 5 closing and that we continue to have very, very minimal and slow communication from the Office of Head Start — they need to start communicating with grantees in a much more substantive way.' The Wisconsin Examiner contacted the federal Department of Health and Human Services using the HHS website for journalists' inquiries and has not yet received a response. This report will be updated when a response is received. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wisconsin Head Start programs facing 50% drop in federal funding, possible closures
Wisconsin Head Start programs have received less than half the federal funding expected this year compared to the same time last year — a drop of more than $35 million that would have supported early child care services for low-income families. According to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start programs in the state received $68 million in federal funding between January 1 and April 15 in 2024. During the same period this year, the programs have received just $32 million. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin highlighted the dramatic drop in an April 17 press release that also criticized a Trump administration budget proposal that would reportedly eliminate Head Start entirely. "We need to make child care more affordable, not shut down this lifeline, like the president is planning," Baldwin said in the press release. Yasmina Vinci, the executive director of the National Head Start Association, told USA TODAY that eliminating Head Start would be "catastrophic." The decades-old program provides free child care and other educational services for low-income families with children up to 5 years old. The federal government funds Head Start through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. According to the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, Head Start serves 16,000 children statewide. Nationally, over 700,000 people used Head Start's services in 2023, according to the program's most recent report. Wisconsin Head Start Association Executive Director Jennie Mauer said that in the last couple of weeks, local programs have been experiencing a new wave of payment delays and confusion, even for grants that have already been awarded. Mauer said several program directors have reported vague requests from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to justify expenses after submitting routine payroll reports. If programs aren't able to access funds for another week, Mauer said some closures are expected. Wisconsin Head Start programs were already struggling to recover from the federal freeze on grants and loans ordered by President Donald Trump on Jan. 28. Programs reported being unable to access funds for weeks despite the White House rescinding the order the next day, forcing one center in Waukesha to temporarily close and leave hundreds of families without child care. Head Start programs across the U.S. have received nearly $1 billion less in federal funding so far this year, already causing some preschool programs to close. The significant lag in funds comes as the National Head Start Association learned April 1 that five regional offices — Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Seattle — would be shut down. The Head Start office in Chicago supports programs in Wisconsin and the Midwest. In a letter sent April 10 to Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Baldwin and several other lawmakers demanded answers about the closure of the regional offices, which are part of Kennedy's plan to downsize the department. The lawmakers asked for more details surrounding the closure, including who grantees should contact for support and how the federal agency plans to ensure services won't be disrupted at childcare centers. Spokespeople for the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Mauer said the cuts will not only affect care for kids, but will also have an economic impact, as Head Start primarily provides support to families who are working or in school full-time. Head Start employs 4,000 people in Wisconsin whose jobs are now at risk, she added. Mauer said Head Start grantees in Wisconsin have received little to no communication from the federal government. After the closure of the regional office, many aren't sure who to turn to for help, she said. Head Start programs rely on consistent funding cycles to operate — but this year, several Wisconsin grantees haven't received their expected second round of funding, according to Mauer. Grants are usually finalized around May 1. 'At the end of this month, their money runs out,' she said. Quinn Clark is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be emailed at QClark@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Head Start faces $35M drop in funding, possible closures
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Report that Head Start could end alarms providers for the early childhood education program
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. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Associated Press
13-04-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Bronze statue of Joe Mauer unveiled by Minnesota Twins outside Target Field
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins unveiled a bronze statue of Hall of Fame catcher Joe Mauer at Target Field before Sunday's game against the Detroit Tigers. Mauer spoke as the statue was unveiled outside a gate beyond right field. He joined Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew, Kirby Puckett, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, manager Tom Kelly and owners Carl and Eloise Pohlad with a statue outside the ballpark. Designed by Minnesota artist Bill Mack, the statue is just over 8 feet tall and weighs more than 800 pounds. Mauer batted .306 with 143 homers and 906 RBIs with Minnesota from 2004-18. He was voted to baseball's Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2024. 'Obviously, it was a big summer last year, going into Cooperstown — that was just an unbelievable experience. But to see myself here, this isn't going to be moving for a long time,' Mauer said. 'Here in my home state of Minnesota, I was always proud to put on this uniform, to play for this club, and to go out there and try to win every night with my teammates.' The first overall pick in the 2001 amateur draft, Mauer played 15 seasons for his hometown club. He won three American League batting titles, was voted the 2009 AL MVP, was picked for six All-Star games and earned three Gold Gloves. A severe concussion late in the 2013 season led to a move to first base in 2014. ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Head Start providers shocked as federal office serving Wisconsin shuts without notice
Children at The Playing Field, a Madison child care center that participates in the federal Head Start program. (Courtesy of The Playing Field) Head Start child care providers in Wisconsin and five other Midwestern states were stunned Tuesday to learn that the federal agency's Chicago regional office was closed and their administrators were placed on leave — throwing new uncertainty into the operation of the 60-year-old child care and early education program. 'The Regional Office is a critical link to maintaining program services and safety for children and families,' said Jenny Mauer, executive director of the Wisconsin Head Start Association, in a statement distributed to news organizations Tuesday afternoon. The surprise shutdown of the federal agency's Chicago office — and four others across the country — left Head Start program directors uncertain about where to turn, Mauer said. 'We have received calls throughout the day from panicked Head Start programs worried about impacts to approving their current grants, fiscal issues, and applications to make their programs more responsive to their local communities,' Mauer said. The regional offices are part of the Office of Head Start in the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In an interview, Mauer said there had been no official word to Head Start providers about the Chicago office closing. Some program leaders learned of the closing from private contacts with people in the office. 'We have not seen official information come out' to local Head Start directors, who operate on the federal grants that fund the program, Mayer said. 'It's just really alarming. For an agency that is about serving families, I don't understand how this can be.' The National Head Start Association issued a press release Tuesday expressing 'deep concern' about the regional office closings. 'In order to avoid disrupting services for children and families, we urge the administration to reconsider these actions until a plan has been created and shared widely,' the association stated. Katie Hamm, the deputy assistant secretary for early childhood development at HHS during the Biden administration, posted on LinkedIn shortly before 12 noon Tuesday that she had learned of reduction-in-force (RIF) notices to employees in the Administration for Children and Families earlier in the day. RIF notices appear to have gone to all employees of the Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care in five regional offices, Hamm wrote, in Boston, New York, San Francisco and Seattle in addition to Chicago. 'Staff are on paid leave effective immediately and no longer have access to their files,' Hamm wrote. 'There does not appear to be a transition plan so that Head Start grantees, States, and Tribes are assigned to a new office. For Head Start, it is unclear who will administer grants going forward.' Hamm left HHS at the end of the Biden administration in January, according to her LinkedIn profile. Mauer said regional office employees 'are our key partners and colleagues,' and their departure has left Head Start operators 'incredibly saddened and deeply concerned.' Regional employees work with providers 'to ensure the safety and quality of services and to meet the mission of providing care for the most vulnerable families in the country,' Mauer said. The regional offices provide grant oversight, distribute funds, monitor Head Start programs and advise centers on complying with regulations, including for child safety, she said. They also provide training and technical assistance for local Head Start programs. 'The Regional Office is a critical link to maintaining program services and safety for children and families,' Mauer said. 'These cuts will have a direct impact on programs, children, and families.' In addition to Wisconsin, the Chicago regional office oversees programs in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. Head Start supervises about 284 grants across the six states in programs that enroll about 115,000 children, according to Mauer. There are 39 Head Start providers in Wisconsin enrolling about 16,000 children and employing about 4,000 staff. The federal government created Head Start in the mid-1960s to provide early education for children living in low-income households. Head Start operators report that the vast majority of the families they serve rely on the program to provide child care so they can hold jobs. The regional office closings came two months after a sudden halt in Head Start funding. Head Start operators get a federal reimbursement after they incur expenses, and program directors have been accustomed to being able to submit their expenses and receive reimbursement payments through an online portal. Over about two weeks in late January and early February, program leaders in Wisconsin and across the country reported that they were unable to log into the system or post their payment requests. The glitches persisted for some programs for several days, but were ultimately resolved by Feb. 10. Mauer told the Wisconsin Examiner on Tuesday that so far, there have not been new payment delays. But there has also been no communication with Head Start operators about what happens now with the unexpected regional office closings, she said. 'No plan for who will provide support has been shared, and the still-existing regional offices are already understaffed,' Mauer said. 'I'm very nervous to see what happens. With no transition plan this will be a disaster.' In her statement, Mauer said the regional office closing was 'another example of the Federal Administration's continuing assault on Head Start' following the earlier funding freeze and stalled reimbursements. She said closing regional offices was undermining the program's ability to function. 'We call on Congress to immediately investigate this blatant effort to hamper Head Start's ability to provide services,' Mauer stated, 'and to hold the Administration accountable for their actions.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
