Dive Brief:
- Almost 20,000 young children and their families are being impacted by “significant delays” in accessing approved federal grant funds for Head Start services across 23 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, according to a Tuesday announcement by the National Head Start Association.
- Grant recipients experiencing the delays have had to shutter services or are “scrambling” to use other funding sources to continue operating, NHSA said. Though most Head Start recipients have not seen major disruptions, at least 45 recipients are facing delays in accessing the funds, according to the nonprofit Head Start advocacy group.
- Lawmakers and advocates say that confusion surrounding last week's rescinded memo on a federal funding freeze is likely to blame for some Head Start programs being unable to access their grants.
Dive Insight:
The federal funding delays that have persisted over the last week “must be resolved immediately or thousands of families and their children will be at risk of losing the critical early care and educational services they depend on to work, go to school, and develop,” said Yasmina Vinci, executive director of NHSA, in the Tuesday statement.
Vinci called on President Donald Trump and the acting leadership of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to swiftly fix the "unnecessary delays” in Head Start funds.
An HHS spokesperson, in an email Wednesday night, acknowledged "technical issues" in the Payment Management System but said it is “back up and running now.” However, there are still some lags in the system due to the high volume of requests, added Andrew Nixon, the agency's director of communications.
The delays came after the Trump administration last week rescinded a U.S. Office of Budget and Management memo to freeze federal funds while agencies reviewed federal financial assistance programs and how they may be impacted by the executive orders Trump issued during his first week in office. Agencies are still directed to review programs for any conflicts with Trump’s orders to end diversity, equity and inclusion programming, “woke gender ideology” and other activities.
OMB had clarified, however, that the initial memo to freeze federal funding would not affect Head Start agencies.
In a Jan. 31 letter to HHS leadership, 29 Democratic senators raised concerns about the OMB memo disrupting programs’ ability to receive funds in a timely manner.
The letter, sent to HHS Acting Secretary Dorothy Fink, and the acting director of the Office of Head Start, Tala Hooban asked officials to “promptly” process funds submitted through the Payment Management System. The senators pegged the "immense uncertainty and disruptions" faced by the Head Start Community as having begun on Jan. 28, the day after the OMB memo came out.
“Even if this issue extends beyond the Office of Head Start, we urge you to do everything in your power to ensure these programs receive transparent and frequent communication on the progress of their funds being released,” the senators wrote. “Head Start programs operate on razor-thin margins and cannot survive without timely intervention. Children, families, employees, and educators all depend on these critical federal funds.”
The back-and-forth and confusion over the OMB memo is likely the reason some Head Start programs are unable to access the federal Payment Management System through which grant recipients access funds, according to the National Women’s Law Center.
“This is a stark reminder that Trump’s actions have real and devastating consequences, and that parents and young children are paying the price” for the dysfunction, said Melissa Boteach, vice president of child care and income security at NWLC, in a Tuesday statement. “Congress must act now to hold Trump accountable and ensure that Head Start providers receive the funding that they need to continue serving their communities."
Under the Head Start Act, the Office of Head Start appropriates over $12 billion per fiscal year to these programs. The office oversees about 1,700 public and private agencies that offer local Head Start services.
Approved annually, the federal grants are used to help Head Start programs pay rent, buy milk and meet payroll, among other operating expenses. Head Start provides free educational services to low-income families with children from birth to age 5.
