How proposed Head Start funding cuts could impact northern Michigan

CADILLAC — A program with the whole child and family in mind.

That’s how Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency (NMCAA) Child and Family Development Director Shannon Phelps describes the Head Start program in simple terms. The federally-funded program accomplishes this by promoting school readiness and helping families work toward self-sufficiency.

In Wexford and Missaukee counties, Phelps said there are 12 Head Start preschool classrooms that serve 201 children between the ages of 3 and 5. There is also one Early Head Start classroom, which is for infants and toddlers.

Along with the classrooms, she said they have seven home visitors between the two counties who work with 76 children and their families.

There is now growing concern about the future of the Head Start program across the country.

In a 64-page internal draft budget document obtained by the Associated Press, deep cuts are being proposed at the Department of Health and Human Services which oversees Head Start. Within the proposed budget, there is no funding for Head Start.

While everything is in the preliminary phase, it is something people like Phelps are worried about.

“It’s concerning,” she said. “You don’t ever like to hear that it’s zeroed out in any budget draft.”

“The hopeful thing is that historically, Head Start has had strong bipartisan support. There’s a lot of research behind Head Start programming and the benefits for it, but just hearing the things that I’ve heard right out there, it’s concerning.”

Families enrolled in the Head Start program can start as early as when they’re expecting a child. Phelps said the Early Head Start program walks alongside parents to ensure they have the tools and resources they need to develop parenting skills.

“That’s always been at the heart of the program is the family piece,” she said. “It’s there to wrap around the entire family. It’s not just about the children. It’s about the family as a whole.”

Head Start has a home-based and center-based option where families can receive support at home and in a classroom setting.

For the Early Head Start’s home-based program, Phelps said they have home visitors year-round who spend an hour and a half with families each week. The home visitors, called child family specialists, work with families who are pregnant and/or who have an infant or toddler.

She explained the home visitors build a relationship with the families and offer support until the child transitions to preschool.

There are socialization experiences that happen twice a month. Phelps said these experiences are like playgroups where families come together and socialize.

Once a family gets into the center-based programming, a family engagement specialist will continue offering support for the family. Phelps explained these specialists tailor their support to whatever the family’s needs are and connect them to other community resources.

The family engagement specialists work with families on at least a quarterly rather than weekly basis. She said the specialists can offer support for families looking at things like buying a house or car, exploring college courses and other life goals.

Once in Head Start preschool, it’s about getting students ready to head off to kindergarten.

Phelps said they have all kinds of school readiness activities geared toward core subjects like math, reading and science. There is also a social-emotional component where Head Start prepares students for interacting with classrooms and how to function in a classroom setting.

While many families may use the Head Start preschool as childcare, Phelps said their staff aren’t childcare providers. Instead, they are teachers who are getting students ready to learn.

“It lays a strong foundation so that they’re ready for (kindergarten),” Phelps said.

The Head Start program has a health component as well. Phelps said they ensure children have wellness checks completed and that families are connected with health insurance. Families are also connected with medical and dental care options.

Every child who enters the program receives both a hearing and vision screening too. If the screenings catch something, she said they can make a referral to begin treatment.

“If you don’t catch it in the right time frame, then it can have a life-long impact,” she said. “Once that developmental window closes, the implications can be lifelong, so making sure that’s done as early as possible is important.”

Another group of children Head Start tries to reach out and support are those with disabilities. Phelps noted that about 10% of enrolled children in Head Start have a diagnosed disability.

The Head Start program can make a referral to Wexford-Missaukee ISD and help families gain access to any additional support they need.

“Health is the foundation for school readiness,” Phelps said. “If a child isn’t healthy, they’re not going to be ready to learn. They’re not going to be a place to learn if you’re not feeling well and not going to be interacting with your peers.”

There are some eligibility requirements to enroll in Head Start, but Phelps encourages any family to apply.

She explained the program is targeted toward families who have an income that’s 100% or below the federal poverty level. Other eligibility factors include families who are homeless, families with children in foster care and families who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Thanks to being 100% funded through the federal government, Head Start is free for families. This also means it is in high demand.

Phelps said the Cadillac area has some of the NMCAA’s longest wait lists among the 10 counties the agency covers. She noted the long wait list is also due to the limited number of preschool classrooms.

Head Start works closely with the ISD and state-funded preschool programs to get children into classrooms as quickly as possible. However, there aren’t enough spots for every child on the wait list, she said.

Given the demand for Head Start, the elimination of the program is a terrifying thought for parents like Melanie Chaney from Kalkaska County. She has enrolled two children in the Head Start program, with one still currently in it.

Chaney is also the NMCAA Policy Council Chairperson. The policy council is made up of parents across the agency’s 10 counties, including Wexford and Missaukee.

She explained that the committee discusses the Head Start and Early Head Start policies and regulations, votes on changes and discusses problems and concerns parents bring to them.

While Chaney enrolled her middle child in Head Start first back in 2021, it is her youngest son who has been impacted most by the program.

Chaney’s son had speech delays that hurt his speech development. She said once her son got into Head Start preschool, he started working with a speech therapist in the classroom multiple times a week.

Thanks to the speech therapist, she said her son’s speech skills have skyrocketed and he’s having conservations with his peers. Without Head Start and the therapist, Chaney said her son may not have been in a good place to start kindergarten.

“From where he started in February last year to where he was in February this year, there’s just an immense difference,” she said.

If Head Start’s funding was eliminated and the program went away, Chaney’s son would lose his speech therapist. Chaney said she and her husband couldn’t afford a private therapist and her son is too young for public school to get him access that way.

While she can try to replicate what the Head Start speech therapist is working on with her son, Chaney said wouldn’t have nearly the same results.

There are also the social and emotional aspects to consider. Chaney said both she and her son have made lots of new friends and built a community thanks to being enrolled in Head Start.

“This is where they go to play,” she said. “This is where they go to have fun. This is an exciting place, and it would break my heart to have to tell my son next year that he can’t go back.”

Chaney believes Head Start has also made a better parent. She said the program has helped her understand how children’s brains work and develop. She also has someone to lean on as she works through different struggles parents like her encounter.

“The people who work at Head Start and the community I’ve built with them has been wonderful,” she said. “They’re so supportive, and they really do care. You matter to them. Your family matters to them, and you can feel it.”

In working and talking with other families in Head Start, Chaney said she knows the program is the only reason why they’re able to work. She added that the Head Start classroom may also be the only safe place for a family to send their children.

“The loss of that space would mean loss of income for families, or potentially just a loss of safe places for children to be,” Chaney said. “That’s really sad and terrifying for me to think about as a mom and somebody who uses Head Start and knows what a difference it can make for their kids and for themselves.”

It wouldn’t just be parents who could be out of the job without Head Start. Phelps said they have about 60 team members supported by Head Start funding in Wexford and Missaukee who could lose their jobs.

Head Start also leases six buildings and purchases some classroom supplies from businesses to support the local economy.

Aside from the potential economic impact, there is also the loss of connections to others. Phelps said many families would lose that extra support they could rely on while navigating parenthood.

“(Head Start) was meant to be a promise, never just a program and I feel like it is,” she said. “It is a promise to families that they’re not alone, that they deserve high-quality care, that they deserve support from people who care about them, care about their child, and who are supporting them to become ready for that next stage in life.”

Story Highlights • The Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency (NMCAA) Head Start program focuses on the needs of both children and their families, aiming to promote school readiness and encourage self-sufficiency. • Concern is growing about potential funding cuts to the Head Start program, as indicated in a preliminary budget proposal from the Department of Health and Human Services that suggests no funding for Head Start. • The potential elimination of Head Start is troubling for parents as its absence would impact their ability to work and provide safe environments for their children.