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Shutdown Freezes Head Start Funding, Forcing Closures as 140 Programs Miss Payments

Temporary stopgaps leave services at risk of further disruption.

Christina Middleton, center, reads with her daughters, Tiffanie Hiatt-Calhoon, 11, left, and Mikaylie Middleton, 3, right, at the Great Beginnings Early Education Center in Lee's Summit, Mo., on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)
FILE - Students help put away supplies at the end of a reading and writing lesson at the Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
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Overview

  • Roughly 140 Head Start grant recipients did not receive Nov. 1 payments, a lapse tied to the shutdown that affects programs serving about 65,000 children.
  • Closures and furloughs expanded Monday, including four Self Help Inc. centers in Massachusetts serving 550 children, two Ohio providers affecting 600 children, and all 11 Encompass centers in California’s Santa Cruz County.
  • East Coast Migrant Head Start Project shut 24 centers across five states, affecting more than 1,100 children and furloughing about 900 staff, with rural and smaller programs cited as especially fragile.
  • Some programs remain open on temporary support from reserves and local partners, including Virginia school divisions covering costs, a Leon County grant reopening Tallahassee sites, and nonprofit financing in Georgia and other locales.
  • Federal judges ordered SNAP benefits to continue using emergency reserves, yet Head Start leaders warn that even if Congress funds the government, individual centers may wait weeks for money and a Dec. 1 renewal wave is looming.