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Quick Take:
If the Trump administration approves a budget that stops federal funding for Head Start, nearly 5,700 children and families in Oregon could lose access to critical services, according to the Oregon Head Start. The impact would be devastating in Lane County — not just for early education, but for public health.
Charleen Strauch, executive director of Head Start of Lane County, didn’t learn about a federal budget proposal that would eliminate funding for the program she runs from the typical channels — a memo or a phone call, for instance.
She learned of it by reading USA Today.
Strauch told Lookout Eugene-Springfield that since January, there’s been radio silence from the national Office of Head Start — which provides 80 percent of her program’s funding.
Still, the news didn’t come as a surprise.
She’s been thinking ahead about the possibility that local Head Start programs could lose federal funding. Nearly 12,000 children in Oregon depend on Head Start. Should what Strauch calls “the worst-case scenario” happen — all federal dollars are eliminated — nearly half of those children, about 5,700 statewide, could lose access to their programs, according to the Oregon Head Start Association.
In Lane County, that would affect about 300 families.
Last year, Oregon received more than $195 million in federal funding for nearly 30 Head Start programs, including the nonprofit Head Start of Lane County (HSOLC). While each program operates differently, most, including HSOLC, rely heavily on five-year federal grants.
HSOLC’s current grant runs through September, but its future hinges on the federal budget, expected in May. If that funding falls through, existing state and local support won’t be enough to fill the gap.
‘Chaotic, cruel’ uncertainty
Head Start is a federal program that helps children from birth to age 5 from low-income families get ready for school. But that is only a fraction of what the program does. In essence, it’s a public health program.
“We are doing much more than just teaching kids the ABCs,” Strauch said. “That is what makes Head Start different from most preschool programs. It goes above and beyond education.”
Lane County’s Head Start program provides basic needs for families living in poverty, some of whom live in their cars or along riverbanks. The program provides homemade meals, offers wellness checkups, and helps with utility bills. It takes many employees — from those working in kitchens to those processing paperwork — to keep it running.
With funding and jobs on the line, agency employees are fearful. Strauch experienced a taste of that when Head Start of Linn County’s funds were paused in January. Although the funding was later unfrozen, the chaos hasn’t stopped.
Last week, more than 900 families in southern Oregon were told their Head Start program might shut down amid another federal funding freeze.
“This time, this uncertainty impacted Jackson and Josephine counties — next time, it could well be Lane County,” said Oregon House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene. “These abrupt funding stoppages are chaotic, they’re cruel, and they’re no way to run the government. Head Start families and staff deserve better — and so do all Oregonians.”
Five regional Head Start offices recently closed, including one in Seattle, which serves Oregon.
Closing regional offices strains resources and could delay distribution of grant funding that has already been awarded. Nancy Perin, the executive director of the Oregon Head Start Association, called the regional office closures “a shock.”
Nearly 1,700 jobs that are federally funded in Oregon could be on the line if no funds are earmarked for the Head Start programs, the Oregon Head Start Association estimates. Perin has been sitting in on lengthy calls and meetings to track developments and “put together a battle plan,” she said.
“Even though it [the proposal] is a consideration, it hasn’t been confirmed by the White House or the administration, we’re taking a proactive approach,” she said.
Launched during the Johnson administration in 1965, Head Start was created to break cycles of poverty. The program has endured through multiple presidential administrations and decades of change, Strauch said.
