Local Head Start faces uncertainty in government shutdown

Head Start programs around the nation are struggling with lack of funding due to the federal government shutdown.

While six federal programs are already running on outside resources to stay afloat since not receiving their federal grants on Oct. 1, another 140 programs across the nation will go into a funding lapse on Nov. 1.

Community programs that receive Head Start funding have different start dates for when their grants are available. Creston’s Head Start still has a month of funding through November, but with no visible compromise on the horizon, the future is uncertain.

“Head Start isn’t just preschool. For many children in our communities, this is where they get nutritious meals, health screenings and early intervention for developmental delays,” Creston’s MATURA Head Start Director Joel Lamb said. “These services can’t wait. Early childhood development happens on a child’s timeline, not Washington’s. Head Start deserves predictable, responsible funding.”

Head Start helps fund roughly 1,600 community programs that served more than 790,000 children during the 2023-24 program year.

The program is managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the employees in that agency who would disburse those awards are currently furloughed because of the shutdown.

“I can’t stress enough — this is purely due to politics,” Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the advocacy group the National Head Start Association said. “This has nothing to do with Head Start not being an effective program or people in Congress and the administration not supporting Head Start.”

He pointed to the “strong bipartisan support” the program has received since its launch in 1965.

“This is just us being collateral damage in a bigger fight that is going to be hurting working families and children,” Sheridan added.

Lamb encouraged Southwest Iowans to contact their legislators.

“Congress and the president must come together not only to keep classrooms open, but also to provide an increase to funding that keeps pace with rising cost in fiscal year 2026 to ensure Head Start can continue giving children a strong start, supporting families and sustaining the workforce that makes it all possible,” Lamb said. “Community members always have the power to contact their elected representatives in Congress to urge them to end this shutdown immediately. Our children’s future can’t be held hostage by political gridlock.”

Under President Donald Trump’s administration, the program was already experiencing chaos prior to the government shutdown, including reports of delays in accessing approved grant funding, regional office closures and firings at HHS Office of Head Start.

That office also told grant recipients in March that it “will not approve the use of federal funding for any training and technical assistance or other program expenditures that promote or take part in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.”

Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget request calls for maintaining Head Start funding at its prior fiscal year level of roughly $12.3 billion.

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed its annual bill to fund HHS, including Head Start, back in July and provided $12.4 billion for the program, a roughly $85 million increase.

The corresponding panel in the House also approved its bill to fund HHS in September, aligning with the administration’s request of maintaining funding for Head Start at $12.3 billion in fiscal 2026.

Iowa Capital Dispatch contributed to this article.