Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
At least one Head Start provider in South Carolina has been forced to temporarily close due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, leaving families in some rural counties without early childhood education, childcare and other related support. Carolina Community Actions Inc., which oversees Head Start and Early Head Start programs in the Rock Hill area, including Chester, Fairfield, Lancaster, Union and York counties, did not receive its scheduled grant for a funding cycle that began Oct. 1. The operator has furloughed 88 staffers, reduced its administrative hours and suspended operations until further notice, according to a statement. The closure is one of the first effects of the federal shutdown’s impact on early childhood education in South Carolina. While most Head Start programs told The Post and Courier they still have funds through existing contracts, local providers voiced uncertainty about how long those reserves will last, fearing more programs could be affected if the shutdown continues. A South Carolina nonprofit, Carolina Community Actions is part of the national Community Action Agency network. It’s one of the local organizations that administers the federal Head Start program, which offers early education to low-income students. Karen Brackett-Browning, its executive director, said that 283 children and families around Rock Hill will be directly impacted by the temporary closure. While the operator used approximately half a million dollars during October, that was no longer sufficient to maintain the program, Brackett-Browning said. Their previous grant award amount was $7.8 million for both Head Start and Early Head Start programs, she added. “We really are hopeful that the shutdown will end soon so that we can get back to serving our families and serving our children, because any length of time without those services could have an adverse effect on the child's learning and development, and we don't want that to happen,” Brackett-Browning said. Tommy Sheridan, Deputy Director of the National Head Start Association, said Head Start is more than just pre-K services. It’s how children get nutritious meals, health screenings and early intervention for developmental delays. Without Head Start, Sheridan said, many parents across the nation will have no affordable child care option and may be forced to leave their jobs, miss classes, or skip job training programs. As of Nov. 1, nearly 10 percent of all Head Start children nationwide were at risk of losing access to their classrooms, according to the national association. The impacts vary by region, as providers are not all awarded funding in the same month. "Despite the Head Start community's best efforts, the longer the shutdown lasts, the more families and children are affected,” Sheridan wrote in an email. “The impact is devastating.” The government shutdown has cast a cloud of uncertainty over programs not threatened with cuts, Elizabeth Kabalka, executive director of Richland County First Steps, said in a statement. The Early Head Start program her organization administers is funded through February. Some families are nonetheless facing the shutdown-caused pause of federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, on which many of them rely, Kabalka wrote. “Our staff is working overtime to help families fill the gap, but South Carolina food banks have never been asked to fill the demand of this size,” she added. In the Charleston area, Head Start and Early Head Start programs run by the Charleston County School District have not been disrupted, said Michelle Mills, a district spokesperson. Officials have not received any information indicating a delay in funding. She said the district has internal contingency plans should the shutdown persist. Programs in the Orangeburg-Calhoun-Allendale-Bamberg area, operated by Community Action Agency, have not been affected, a spokesperson confirmed.
