2 Wisconsin Head Start programs to close amid shutdown, many more at risk

Republicans’ refusal to halt massive price hikes for health insurance means families will start going without childcare, and providers won’t get paid.

All the dominos are starting to fall in the federal government shutdown, and the next few mean hundreds of children and dozens of childcare providers will be hurt in Wisconsin as two Head Start programs stop operating. Many others are in line to do the same.

Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday that Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program (SWCAP) plans to close its nine Head Start classrooms next week, affecting 114 children in Iowa, Lafayette, Grant, Green, and Richland counties who won’t have a place to go and 34 staff who will temporarily get no paychecks. The Sheboygan Human Rights Association will close its Head Start classrooms on Nov. 14, leaving 172 children in Sheboygan County without programming and 48 staff without paychecks. 

Head Start offers comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. It is a federal program that sends annual grants to local providers — and the programs with grants due to be received on Nov. 1 are not expected to get the funding they need to continue operating. Evers said there are three Head Start programs serving more than 1,100 children that rely on an annual grant due to arrive Dec. 1 and four programs expecting federal funds on Jan. 1 or they’ll have to end programming for more than 1,250 children. Nationally, around 750,000 children receive educational and developmental services through Head Start.

“At a time when working families are already struggling to make ends meet and access basic food necessities, we should be focused on keeping Head Start and child care center doors open and making sure child care is affordable so parents and loved ones can stay in our workforce,” Evers said. “Each day Republicans in Congress continue this shutdown and refuse to work across the aisle to get the federal government back to work, the more we will see the direct consequences on Wisconsin’s kids, families, seniors, veterans, and so many others across our state.”

Eliminating Head Start entirely is part of Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint for a second Trump administration. 

The current shutdown stems from Republicans’ refusal to prevent a large spike in health insurance costs for coverage purchased through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Evers released county-by-county figures this week showing how the shutdown will affect specific demographics, with many households paying hundreds or thousands more for annual health insurance coverage. Some seniors could see a premium increase of more than $30,000 per year. There are also nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites who rely on FoodShare, who are about to lose access to basic food necessities because the Trump administration is defunding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), despite the availability of contingency funds.