Mississippi Head Start centers are among the many federal programs awaiting word on whether they will be affected by the government shutdown.
Dozens of centers in other states are missing out on federal grant payments that were due to arrive Nov. 1. Some have closed indefinitely, while others are staying afloat with emergency funding from local governments and school districts.
The closures mean Head Start students—who come from low-income households, are homeless or are in foster care—are missing out on preschool, where they are fed two meals a day and receive therapy vital to their development.
Many more Head Start operators have begun counting the number of days they can stay open without federal funding.
Launched six decades ago as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, Head Start programs provide a range of services beyond early education, such as medical and dental screenings, school meals, and family support to children from low-income households who can’t afford other child care options.
The initiative is funded almost entirely by the federal government, leaving it with little cushion from funding disruptions.
“It’s federal to local (funds) and Head Start programs are only allowed to draw down enough money to meet current expenses,” Mississippi Head Start Association Executive Director Nita Thompson told the Mississippi Free Press on Oct. 29. “If a program draws down a certain amount of cash from the federal government … that money has to be dispersed in three days. There is no reserve. It’s not like they have some carryover money or some fund that could sustain them.”
Head Start centers serve hundreds of thousands of low-income families. The preschools provide two meals a day to students, along with medical screenings and dental care. Many of the children who attend Head Start have parents who work in hourly jobs and risk losing their jobs if they do not have child care.
A half-dozen Head Start programs never received grants that were anticipated in October, but there are now 140 programs that have not received their annual infusion of federal funding. All told, the programs have the capacity to assist 65,000 preschoolers and expectant parents.
Centers across the country serving at least 8,000 families were closed Monday, according to the National Head Start Association. Every Head Start center in Little Rock, Arkansas, closed, as well as several rural programs in Ohio, Iowa and Florida.
Mississippi Centers Await Dec. 1 Grant Cycle
The National Head Start Association reports that Mississippi currently has no program participants at risk. Nita Thompson said that will change if the shutdown continues past Dec. 1.
“We have 16 Head Start grant recipients, and four of those recipients have December 1 grant years,” Thompson said. “So if the shutdown goes after Dec. 1, then you’ve got four programs that potentially will have to close their doors, let staff go, and not be able to serve the most vulnerable children and families in our communities.”
The Picayune Head Start/Early Head Start School District, Friends of Children of Mississippi, the Institute of Community Services, and Mississippi Action for Progress each have centers or counties that would be affected. More than 4,500 children and over 900 staff would be affected by the closure.
There were almost 15,000 children enrolled in Head Start preschools in the 2024 program year, and approximately another 3,600 more in Early Head Start programs across the state. The federal government provided more than $264 million in annual operations funds to those Head Start programs. The federal government also provided an additional $2 million in funding to 268 students in tribal Head Start programs during the 2024 program year.
Thompson said closing centers would create a ripple effect in the community. Unemployed workers will need state benefits. The interruption will cause problems in the “economic engine that drives this state,” Thompson said.
“Head Start employs almost 5000 people,” Thompson said. “So when those people have to go home, those are people who pay Social Security. Those are the people who pay mortgages, car notes, and property taxes. So it’s not just going to adversely impact the families.”
But she emphasized that families will bear the brunt of the consequences.
“That means a family that’s already doing its best to try to figure out how to keep (their) family going and how to keep (their) life stable is going to have a serious interruption,” Thompson said. “Because those families will have to try to find some person or some place to care for their children on short notice.”
“We know that the state is already stretched in terms of child care vouchers, so more than likely that’s not going to be an option,” she continued. “Kinship care is probably not going to be an option. So we know what (closing centers) is going to mean to families.”
SNAP Delays Complicate Matters for Many Head Start Families
Many of the families that qualify for the federal preschool program also depend on food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP or food stamps. The Trump administration has argued that it should not be forced to fully fund SNAP payments during the shutdown in a case it has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
That means many Head Start families have been worried about food aid, along with the child care they rely on to make ends meet. A day without child care means a day without work for many parents—and a day without pay.
Mississippi informed WIC recipients that they would continue receiving benefits. However, it temporarily suspended enrollment for new participants, accepting applications only from Priority 1 applicants.
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service has extensive information on how widely WIC is used. In fiscal year 2024, it amounted to over $7 billion in aid. In May, the latest month for which data were available, more than 60,000 Mississippi residents received WIC benefits.
Though both are under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, WIC differs from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, because SNAP participants can buy almost any grocery item they want—regardless of the nutritional value. The Mississippi Department of Human Services announced on Oct. 24 that SNAP benefits will be paused starting on Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown.
With WIC, recipients can only buy approved products that meet federal nutrition guidelines, including specific infant formulas, whole-grain breads, eggs, milk and fresh produce. The goal is to help low-income households purchase nutritious staples that might normally be out of reach.
Only children under 5 and new and expectant mothers qualify for the program.
Update: A group of Democrats have reached an agreement with Republicans to reopen the government, though it remained shut down as of morning on Monday, Nov. 10.