Funding freeze ices Head Start programs

After President Donald Trump signed an executive order to freeze federal grants and loans, Head Start programs across the country haven’t been able to access funds, even though a judge ordered that the grants be made available.

Lewis Clark Early Childhood Program in Lewiston was affected during the freeze last week, but it was restored at the end of the day Jan. 28, according to the Lewiston office. According to a National Head Start Association website post from Tuesday, over the last week a growing number of Head Start grant recipients reported delays in accessing approved grant funding. Most recipients didn’t have major disruptions but a large number continue to receive “pending” or “in process” messages when they request to draw funds from their grant. Some Head Start recipients have closed down services and others have been trying to figure out other funding sources to keep services running.

Executive Director of the Idaho Head Start Association Megan Woller, based in Boise, is the head of the state association, which is a nonprofit organization that Head Start grant recipients are members of. Head Start, which is in its 60th year, has grant recipients in nearly all counties in Idaho. Head Start provides services for children and families through preschool and early childhood development, even starting with expectant mothers before the child is born. They also have a program to help parents navigate getting a GED to help them accomplish their future goals.

Woller said when Trump’s executive order came out, the Head Start office already had a freeze because of the DEI language in the program. Federal officials were going through to see what kinds of DEI standards were included in the program so the Head Start office wasn’t able to communicate with grantees, including information on the funding freeze that came later.

Woller was in Washington, D.C., for a conference when the announcement came and people were “freaking out” she said. But people also acted quickly to get lawyers involved and a judge rescinded the order.

Head Start grant recipients are given a grant for a five-year timeframe. Each year the recipients are required to submit proposed plans for providing services to eligible children and families in their community.

Once the yearly proposal is approved recipients receive a notice and have access to the payment management system, which allows them to draw down from the awarded funds to pay rent, buy supplies, meet payroll and other operating expenses, according to the website.

Idaho had 13 Head Start grantees in the state, as of now only one in western Idaho is reporting that they are unable to access their funds. Woller said payroll is due this week for 125 staff who have already worked their hours. The affected program serves 465 kids and families across five counties.

“If staff can’t get paid, staff won’t show up to work, kids can’t show up to preschool and parents can’t go to work,” Woller said.

A survey Tuesday from the National Head Start Association found that at least 45 grant recipients serving 20,000 children ages zero to 5 as well as their families are having delays in accessing the funds. That number includes programs in 23 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, and all those recipients employ nearly 6,000 staff, according to the website.

Woller heard that one program in the country would have stopped operating so they took out a 7% interest loan to pay staff.

“That’s pretty extraordinary, in a bad way,” Woller said. “But that’s what programs are having to turn to.”

Woller said there’s no clear pattern to why certain programs across the country can’t get their funds. In Idaho, people are receiving a “pending review” message. The funds have been awarded but they are inaccessible.

While a judge has ordered the funds to be unfrozen, Woller heard there was a backlog to explain why the issue is happening around the country.

“I don’t know if it’s purposeful or really technical problems with the system,” Woller said. “They need to fix it.”

Since the executive order came, the Head Start associations in the states have created a network of support. Woller has also rallied the local community and a Facebook post has had almost 200 shares about the issue.

“Everyone is definitely taking it seriously,” she said.

However, Woller hasn’t heard much response from Idaho Gov. Brad Little or Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador. Woller said she sent a letter to Labrador and hasn’t received a response.

Woller called the governor’s office and the response was that they can’t tell the president what to do. Woller said that all she was asking for was that the governor voice his concern and send “urgency upstream so Idahoans can get their paycheck.”

Woller is getting more nervous as paychecks are due and funding remains unavailable, but she is grateful for the community support who are contacting “people in power.” Woller said people can continue to contact members of congress, including U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, who is an appropriator for Head Start.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.