After delays in finance, uncertainties and anxiety, linger at Head Start programs

Due to the freezing of funding in January, which held most of the federal grants and loans in the state, some Head start -up programs across the country were temporarily prevented from accessing their federal financing. Nevertheless, the effects of these delays remain because the programs are exposed to an uncertain political landscape.

Head Start is a federal program that offers children from families with low income comprehensive early childhood education, health support and family services.

Some head start programs reported delays in the preservation of federal funds, although federal officials said that the programs should not be affected by freezing. It was later blocked by a judge from the Federal District Court shortly after his announcement.

After freezing, there was initially a “crisis feeling” under RI -head start programs, said Michelle Mathiesen, the director of Rhode Island for the New England Head Start Association. The collective concern was: “Is our financing frozen? What does that mean for our programs? What does that mean for our children? What does that mean for our families? “She said.

Although these programs have other sources of income, those in Rhode Island mainly rely on the federal starting grants, said Mathiesen.

Tiana Ochoa Teo, Vice President of Programs and Director of Head Start at Children's Friend, emphasized the importance of federal financing for the operation of Head Start.

“The majority of the program is primarily financed by the federal government,” she said. “If there are cuts or freezing funding, our ability to have the program will be as good as possible overall.”

“Without this financing, it would certainly be a crisis level,” said Mathiesen.

Head Start Center across the state also employs teachers, social workers and other support employees, so that the loss of financing could affect their income and achieved a Ripple effect, she added.

The loss of the financing “would take many people from work and then cause a national crisis,” Jessica Demerchant wrote in an e -mail to the Herald. She works as a family lawyer for Child Inc., a childcare center that receives Federal Head Start Financing.

“If the fate of these critical programs is uncertain, it creates a measure of fear and instability for families who work hard to offer their children the best possible life,” said Ochoa Teo.

She said that there are already roadblocks for childcare in the state, since the “enormous lack of registration information and trained personnel in the area of ​​early education”, which attracted them to low wages and lack of interest.

At Children's Friend, Ochoa Teo said that they are still working on identifying alternative revenue flows as an emergency plan if federal financing is threatened again.

Despite an unsafe national landscape, Mathiesen retains a resistant way of thinking.

“We really try to stay positive and realize that we also have a lot of support in the state,” she said. “Our senators and our representatives, both on a local and national level, understand the importance of (lead).”