Colorado Head Start programs are on track to be the latest victims of the federal government shutdown.
Head Start serves 11,000 low-income children in Colorado — infants through preschoolers — through $120 million in annual federal funding.
The first four Head Start programs in Colorado will run out of money on Nov. 1. Those four programs are out of the Thompson School District, Poudre School District, Adams County and the Community Partnership for Child Development (CPCD) in Colorado Springs.
Another six programs will lose funding starting Dec. 1.
State
Colo. early childcare centers face cuts — even closure — if shutdown continues
Forty-eight programs in Colorado receive federal grants through the Department of Health and Human Services. Each program has different, staggered contracts with the federal government, and Head Start is much more than just childcare.
"We really offer a comprehensive suite of services, including early childhood education, job training for parents, initiatives to find homes for families that are experiencing homelessness. We have drug counseling, and we have family counseling. And we make sure that every child has a medical home and a dental home. And so, all these things are at jeopardy," said Heather Frenz, executive director of Colorado Head Start Association.
Denver7 anchor Shannon Ogden spoke with Frenz about how these families are planning to deal with the loss of these vital services. Frenz said the plans right now consist of little more than hope.
"A lot of families are looking toward families, looking for family members to help them and friends, and they are hoping the shutdown doesn't last," said Frenz. "I was telling them it's not going to last. I didn't see it going on this long."
Frenz said Head Start programs have never seen an existential threat like this.
"Head Start is 60 years old this year, and we have never had an issue with our funding on a federal level like this before," she said. "Now we're just looking at no funding."
Frenz said the first four programs to lose funding in November will be kept afloat for that first month. She said the two school districts and Adams County have said they will find the money. The CPCD will also use its rainy-day fund to keep that program going until at least December.
Frenz warned that there is no plan after that.
