‘It would really be a disaster’

While they were told it was just a glitch, the temporary pause in funding for Head Start programs has created concern for local organizers.

The reported glitch came at the same time President Donald Trump issued an executive order to freeze federal grants and loan disbursements. While Head Start officials were told the issues were not related to the executive order, Western Dairyland Head Start — which operates four centers in Trempealeau County — did not receive the funds for more than a week.

That funding is used by Western Dairyland Head Start for the reimbursement of payroll, food, supplies and local vendors. 

“We did not receive a payment for a week and had no idea when it was coming,” Anna Cardarella, Western Dairyland Head Start CEO, said. 

The payroll alone was $300,000 for staff members, and the lack of funds made decision-makers go into crisis mode.

“We had to use unrestricted dollars and had to honestly make plans for laying off staff and closing child care centers if we were not reimbursed,” Cardarella said. “There was no reasoning, we were just told it was a technical glitch.”

Since then, Cardarella said they have not had any issues receiving funds, but the money being received right now is contractually guaranteed and approved by Congress through the fiscal year. Head Start system organizers haven’t gotten official word that the program will be funded in the next federal budget.

“There has been no communication assuring payments,” Thanh Bui-Duquette, Head Start director, said. 

More than 80 percent of Western Dairyland’s funding comes from federal sources. A portion of that money goes toward 170 full-time staff members — about 90 of which work for the Head Start program. It is still operating under the 2024 fiscal budget year, which ends April 30. 

Western Dairyland Head Start has nine centers, including locations in Arcadia, Blair, Independence and Galesville. The local Head Start program makes up half of the eight licensed childcare facilities in the county. In all, Western Dairyland Head Start provides care for 104 children in Trempealeau County, 90 percent of which come from low-income homes. 

“We are being transparent with families,” Cardarella said. “The rural communities would be hit the hardest. It is very expensive to run a high-quality program in a rural area… It will be the rural programs that will be gone first.”

The lack of childcare options in the area could create a domino effect. Bui-Duquette said most of the families they serve are working families, who would have to leave the workforce to care for their children should Western Dairyland Head Start have to close.

“It is imperative for these children and families to have Head Start, but if Head Start is not available it will hurt the already strained child care system within our area,” Cardarella said. “We want people to be working, people want to be working, we want people to be productive members of society. Without having quality childcare nothing else matters.”

That is in addition to the people who work for Western Dairyland who would be unemployed if the federal funding source were cut off.

“Our staff members are also residents of the communities they work in,” Bui-Duquette said. “I think about the economic impact without Head Start, it would really be a disaster.” 

The Arcadia, Blair and Galesville centers work in cooperation with those school districts. An agreement that financially benefits the schools, which receives funds for four-year-old kindergarten students through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, but is not required to provide staff, food or supplies for the students. 

“That is a collaboration where both entities share resources,” Bui-Duquette said. “Both Head Start and the school districts benefit. This is a model we have created in the rural communities that works... It would not just be hurting the community, but our school district partners as well.” 

Cardarella said the Head Start program benefits more than just the families who have children in Head Start. It helps prepare students for kindergarten, which helps those around them.

“Your kiddos will do better because their classmates are prepared for kindergarten,” Cardarella said.

While they have worked to spread their message to elected officials, the uncertainty has led to staff members creating backup plans.

“It’s hard to know right now what may be happening. Without an approved fiscal year 2025 budget, we are not sure what the future of Head Start will be,” Bui-Duquette said. “It’s really hard to plan with not having an idea of what might be.”

While there has been concern expressed amongst staff and families served by Head Start, Bui-Duquette said they are trying to focus on being proactive.

“There’s definitely concern,” Bui-Duquette said. “There are so many things on the news, it’s hard to keep track of them. That can be very overwhelming for staff and families. We have been trying to focus on the importance of reaching out to elected officials, encouraging our families to reach out to them and talk about how Head Start has helped these families.”

While Head Start officials have not yet been given an indication if elected representatives will fight for funding to keep the program going, they have asked others to contact local officials, such as Congressman Derrick Van Orden and U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson.

“All we can do is talk to them about the importance of Head Start, share the impact of it and the loss that would be felt throughout our rural communities without it,” Cardarella said

The Times reached out to Van Orden’s office for comment but did not receive a response.

Bui-Duquette said she hopes the long history Western Dairyland Head Start has in the community will help. 

“We have had a long history of serving the community so I’m really counting on many of our community partners, families, past families to really help speak up for us and advocate for us and talk about the benefits of what we do within the communities,” Bui-Duquette said.