Head Start is a federally funded program that provides free early childhood education, health and nutrition services to children from low-income families.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Millions of Americans continue to feel the effects of the ongoing government shutdown, including tens of thousands of low-income families who rely on Head Start, a federally funded early childhood development program.

Head Start provides free early education, health and nutrition services for children from low-income families. But since federal funding stopped on Nov. 1, about 140 programs across the country have been affected, impacting roughly 65,000 children.

For now, several Head Start centers in the Houston area remain open, but education experts said the threat of closure looms, if the shutdown does not end soon.

“As the shutdown continues to go on, clearly Head Start will have a major impact,” University of Houston College of Education Professor Duncan Klussmann said.

Klussmann said Head Start is extremely critical for both the kids enrolled in the program.

“It’s our most needy children in our country. It’s the kids who need this experience the most,” Klussmann said. “It gives them that access again to try to get them a good head start in life, so they’re prepared for Pre-K and prepared for Kindergarten, going into their K-12 learning experience.”

Klussmann also said it is not just the kids that will be negatively impacted by losing Head Start – so will their parents. 

“Head Start will have early and late programs, so it could be the childcare for that low-income family. If they don’t have resources to have someone watch that child or to get daycare, then they’ll have to not go do their job, and it could affect that whole aspect and then the ripple effect of the financial effect on the family,” Klussmann said.

According to the Head Start website, there are about 100 Head Start centers in Harris County which are run by a handful of providers. KHOU 11 reached out to five of the main local providers, and here is how they responded to our inquiries about if they were being impacted by the government shutdown:


BakerRipley

BakerRipley provided KHOU 11 the following statement: “At this time, BakerRipley’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs have not been impacted by the government shutdown, and operations are continuing as usual. We remain in communication with the Office of Head Start and are committed to keeping our families informed.”


AVANCE Houston

AVANCE Houston said they are not providing interviews or public comments regarding the federal government shutdown. However, they confirmed with KHOU 11 that their Head Start programs are still operating.


Urban Strategies

Urban Strategies told KHOU 11 over the phone that their Head Start programs are continuing as normal as of right now.


Harris County Department of Education

The communications team for the Harris County Department of Education told KHOU 11 that they are waiting to hear back from some key staff members before officially commenting on their current Head Start situation.


Gulf Coast Community Services Association

KHOU 11 did not receive a response from the Gulf Coast Community Services Association.

Klussmann said whether Houston-area Head Start programs end due to lack of funding during the government shutdown depends on several factors.

“The federal government provides the opportunity for different organizations to run Head Start, and it just depends on that organization’s resources and the timing of the grants they receive from the federal government,” Klussmann said. “It really depends on the financial status of that organization. They may have additional resources where they can put it into Head Start until they get refunded once the shutdown has ended, so it really depends on the individual program, the timing of the grant.” 

Many of the same low-income families who rely on Head Start also depend on SNAP benefits to help put food on the table. Experts said losing both childcare and food assistance at the same time could be devastating.

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