This past month has led to feelings of uncertainty within the Head Start community, as many programs faced temporary funding freezes and were left unable to access funds. While we hope these scenarios do not continue to play out for Head Start providers, serving the most vulnerable children and families in communities, it’s difficult to predict what may come next.
The federal government is approaching a possible government shutdown, as March 14 is the end of the current spending plan. This is a critical point in the federal budget process, because a government shutdown will follow if a funding deal is not reached.
In this “food for thought” blog post, we offer proactive steps your agency can take to help manage budget uncertainty in Head Start. These suggestions apply not only when facing a potential government shutdown; they are best practices to help your program remain resilient and prepared for any budget changes.
Ask the hard questions so that your program is ready and informed to respond. How long could your agency cover expenses to continue to operate its program if federal funding is no longer available? Is it one week, one month, or longer? What would it require – funding sources and support – for the program to continue operation? What innovative solutions might you consider that would allow your program to operate and strengthen service delivery? Even if you can sustain services for a period of time, does it make sense to do so or would you choose to focus on saving rather than depleting resources? Asking these questions and others will help to reveal the impact of funding changes and shed valuable light onto what may be needed to effectively move forward.
Consider your responsibility to others and communicate relevant information at the most appropriate time. Certainly, we don’t want to raise unnecessary alarms. Yet, at the same time, a change in operating status due to short or long term funding challenges would have an effect on the day-to-day lives of many. Families could be without care, and staff could be without work. We encourage you to think about the best way to share information with families and staff about possible disruption to services. In many cases, communicating sooner rather than later may help families and staff to feel informed and able to respond to their own personal needs.
Also, remember to communicate with any child care partners. Your partners have a responsibility to their staff and families, just as your agency does to its families and staff. Extending communications to partners is essential so that they are informed and have the information they need to communicate with others. And, equipped with information, your child care partners can help to strengthen advocacy efforts.
Advocacy matters – connect with federal, state, and local representatives. Help be the voice for the children and families you serve. Your program provides not only a high-quality early learning experience for young children, but it is part of the foundation of your community. It supports employment and stability in the economy so that lower wage workers have stable child care, which allows them to sustain employment and move toward self-sufficiency.
The reduction or loss of Head Start would have would have ripple effects that could destabilize local employment and economies. As you think about these impacts, write them down, quantify them, talk about them, and consider who you can share them with. For example, do you have opportunities to meet with other Head Start directors through your state and/or regional Head Start Association? Local politicians? Are there state early childhood councils or coalitions that you engage with? What about large corporations or businesses who may have a vested interest in the availability of child care for their employees? Private funders or other organizations who could be a supplemental funding source? Through advocacy, you can help give voice to the children, families, staff, and community that would be impacted by changes to Head Start federal funding. The National Head Start Association (NHSA) and state Head Start associations are great places to look for advocacy resources and support.
Clean up document management to ensure ongoing access to historical information. This is important for any grantee, but particularly those at a funding crossroads (e.g., pending notice of award from a recent grant competition, expecting to compete in an upcoming round of DRS, approaching baseline application). Be sure that you have electronic copies of the files that live in HSES. Download reports, applications, and communications, and save them in your agency’s file management system. If access to HSES should be limited or unavailable at any time, you will have all the documentation of your program that could be helpful for navigating next steps.
We realize that programs are juggling new information as it becomes available, all while continuing operation of the day-to-day services of Head Start. Foundations for Families offers a variety of consulting services to assist programs. If you are interested to explore how we may be able to assist your program, please be in touch and we would be glad to connect.
Thank you.
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