11-02-2025
Head Start program in Frederick County unaffected by federal funding freeze
Despite concerns across the country about federal funding for the school-readiness program Head Start, the YMCA of Frederick County's Head Start program is operating normally and fully funded.
On Jan. 27, President Donald Trump's budget office issued a memorandum that required federal agencies to stop distributing federal funds and to review that the programs were consistent with Trump's policies.
Head Start is a national, federally funded program that works to ready low-income infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children for school. In Frederick County, the Head Start program is operated through the YMCA of Frederick County.
A memo dated Jan. 29 later clarified that funding for Head Start and other programs, such as programs for rental assistance and small businesses, would not be paused.
Across the country, Head Start programs reported last week that they could not access a government website to obtain federal grants.
Chris Colville, CEO and president of the YMCA of Frederick County, said in an interview last week that the county's Head Start program was unaffected by the funding freeze.
She said the program is fully funded and services have not been disrupted.
The YMCA of Frederick County operates the Head Start program at five locations in the city of Frederick.
The full-day school-readiness program provides breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack during classroom hours and serves children ages 3 to 5, according to the YMCA of Frederick County's website.
More than 150 children are enrolled in Head Start, according to Colville. They live in Frederick County and are not currently students of Frederick County Public Schools.
Colville said that hen the initial memo that froze federal funds was released, "there was a bit of confusion" and were "some inconsistencies with the messaging in terms of what was happening."
She said the organization had questions about if the Head Start program could continue without government funding, or if the program would have to be suspended.
"So, we were kind of working on a Plan B. What does that look like if the funding doesn't continue?" Colville said. "But, right now, what I've told my staff is we're taking it one day at a time."
She said the organization did not have any issues applying for or getting its Head Start program funding processed.
Colville added that there are still challenges to running any program, and the organization is still concerned about "how any of the funding, even on a state level," could affect its services.
"We're going to continue to provide the best program that we can, hoping that people understand the importance of this program and what it provides to the community," she said.
