Overview
- Roughly 135–140 Head Start grantees lost access to federal funds on Nov. 1, putting services for about 65,000 children and more than 22,000 staff at immediate risk, with additional programs facing cutoffs on Dec. 1 due to staggered renewals.
- Closures have begun, including Encompass Community Services in Santa Cruz shutting all 11 sites and Community Action Inc. of Central Texas suspending six centers and furloughing 126 employees.
- States and localities are deploying short-term stopgaps, with Massachusetts advancing grants and Colorado districts and Adams County pledging first-month coverage, though leaders caution repayment and timelines are uncertain.
- Two federal court rulings ordered SNAP to continue for now, but USDA officials say contingency funds are limited and do not resolve the separate shortfall hitting Head Start.
- Programs are cutting transportation, consolidating classes, furloughing staff, or drawing on credit to stay open, while families scramble for childcare and providers warn prolonged gaps could cause lasting losses in early childhood capacity.