Nearly 400 Wisconsin children will lose their access to Head Start services in November due to the continuing federal government shutdown, according to a Wisconsin Public Radio report.
If the shutdown, already the second-longest in U.S. history, were to extend into December, about 1,100 Wisconsin children would lose access to services.
The Southwest Community Action Program announced it will close all nine of its preschool/Head Start classrooms on Monday.
Southwest provides Head Start to low-income families in Grant, Green, Iowa, Lafayette and Richland counties.
The Sheboygan Human Rights Association will eventually have to suspend services, but is funded through the middle of November thanks to Head Start’s state supplement.
The Wisconsin Head Start program serves between 13,000 and 16,000 families per year. Head Start and Early Head Start are federal programs for low-income families, and services include child care, health, dental, mental health and disabilities support.
