Head Start centers across the U.S. have received nearly $1 billion less in federal money compared with this time last year — and a lag in funding this week has caused some preschool classrooms for children from low-income households to close, according to the Associated Press.
The federal government reportedly distributed $1.6 billion for Head Start from Jan. 1 through Tuesday of this week, compared with $2.55 billion issued during the same period last year. Head Start, a child development program for more than half a million of the nation’s neediest children, is federally funded but runs through private and public schools.
The lag in funding is the latest barrier Head Start preschools have faced under the Trump administration. During the brief freeze on federal grants after President Donald Trump took office, Head Start providers were unable to access their accounts. Unable to make payroll that day, several centers temporarily closed, cutting off free child care for low-income families, for whom a day without work is often a day without pay.
This month, scores of federal Head Start employees were put on leave as part of Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal government. At least five of the 12 regional offices for Head Start were closed as part of layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services, according to the National Head Start Association.
Head Start was started six decades ago as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. While the early childhood program has enjoyed bipartisan support since then, some Republicans have emphasized its shortcomings and criticized efforts to increase funding, and Project 2025, the policy blueprint created by the conservative Heritage Foundation, called for eliminating Head Start altogether.
