Thousands of children across the nation may continue to face disruption in their early education as Head Start preschools grapple with the possibility of closure due to ongoing issues with federal funding access. The problem, which first emerged last week during President Donald Trump’s attempt to freeze federal grants, continues to affect Head Start programs that provide essential services to low-income families and their children.
Last week, Head Start administrators discovered they were unable to access a key government website needed to receive funding for the early education program. This issue was mirrored by similar difficulties reported by Medicaid administrators.
While the website was restored for some operators, 45 Head Start programs across the country continued to experience issues a week later, according to Tommy Sheridan from the National Head Start Association. Some organizations were still waiting for payments for invoices submitted, which under normal circumstances would be processed within hours.
These delays pose serious challenges for Head Start programs, many of which rely on federal funding distributed on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. In Michigan, a nonprofit overseeing 17 Head Start centers was forced to close for a day because it couldn’t pay its employees, reopening only after the funds were released.
In Wisconsin, the National Centers for Learning Excellence, which serves over 200 children, had to close for a week and lay off staff due to the funding issues. The center was scheduled to reopen after the money was finally made available.
For families relying on Head Start programs, the shutdowns were a major inconvenience, according to Bill Walsh, the organization’s operations director. “Parents are left scrambling to find alternative care for their children, whether it’s a family member, neighbor, or possibly unlicensed child care,” he explained.
In Wisconsin alone, a dozen other Head Start programs reported similar difficulties accessing funding, with some in Pennsylvania considering closures as well.
“If this issue isn’t resolved soon, I expect even more centers to close,” warned Jennie Mauer, executive director of the Wisconsin Head Start Association.
This funding disruption coincided with a broader order from the Trump administration to freeze federal grants, causing widespread confusion. The White House later clarified that Head Start and Medicaid were not intended to be affected by the directive. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the Medicaid issues as a technical outage but has yet to address whether the Head Start funding problem was caused intentionally.
