ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – As the federal government shutdown continues, organizations across the Upper Peninsula are starting to feel the effects. They say local families soon will as well.
The Menominee Delta Schoolcraft Community Action Agency’s (MDSCAA) Early Childhood Program provides services to families through Head Start and Early Head Start.
“They are school readiness programs to help children and families prepare to enter into the public school,” explained Myra Smeester, MDSCAA Deputy Director.
The agency receives a federal grant annually on November 1 to fund those programs. However, the agency cannot access that funding while the shutdown is in effect.
“Our grant is due the beginning of August, and that all got turned in on time,” Smeester said. “Normally, we get our notice of award within the month of October.”
While the shutdown does not impact funding for every Head Start program in the country, it is impacting funding for almost every Head Start program in the U.P.
“I think there was only six in the whole country that are October 1 grantees,” said MDSCAA Executive Director Gary Willoughby. “They lost funding several weeks ago, and many of them are already shut down. There’s 134 nationally that are November 1 grantees. If we were a grantee, let’s say in April or June, we wouldn’t be impacted by this at all.”
Across Delta, Schoolcraft, and Menominee counties, the agency serves 226 families each year. 170 of those families have 3- to 5-year-olds in the Head Start program. 56 of those families are enrolled in Early Head Start, which serves prenatal mothers and children up to the age of 3. Smeester says every family counts on the services provided by the Community Action Agency.
“Families will be left without education for their children,” she said. “That’s the biggest thing. Therapies, if they are eligible for that, happen within our classrooms on-site. They’re going to have to either have to have them in their homes or go somewhere else. That’s a burden or a barrier for them. We also provide nutritious meals—some of them up to three of them—and those meals won’t be able to be provided to those families.”
For many, the impacts could be felt far beyond the classroom. For example, more than 80% of Head Start and Early Head Start families receive free diapers and wipes thanks to a grant. The agency distrbutes $6,000 – $7,000 worth of diapers every month. According to Willoughby, local jobs will also be impacted.
“Unfortunately, over 100 staff will be furloughed if it doesn’t open up soon,” he said. “Some of them also have Head Start children. Some of these family members are maybe a single-parent household, they may have to—in some cases—quit their jobs in order to stay home with their families while they’re also losing SNAP benefits and that education.”
The Community Action Agency will be self-funding for as long as possible. Willoughby says administrators are also exploring ways to continue serving families.
“It may even require taking a line of credit against our building that we don’t know if we’ll ever get repaid back,” he said. “The funding that we’ve had for all these years is the main source of revenue for us, so we can only go so far without putting the entire agency in jeopardy. We know how vital these programs are, so we’ve called our folks in Congress and we’ve done everything we can to try to raise awareness.”
If the shutdown continues, the agency will be forced to suspend all programs on November 14.
“We are doing our best to stay open as long as we can,” said Smeester. “As soon as we know that we can reopen and that we have funding, we plan on doing that. Reach out if any assistance is needed in the meantime. We’re still here, just in a smaller capacity.”
“It’s really impacting people very deeply who don’t really have a lot of backup systems when times are tough,” Willoughby said. “We’re kind of their safety net and have been for 60 years. To see this because of a shutdown at this unfortunate town, it’s very frustrating, obviously, for everybody who’s involved with the programs anywhere throughout the U.P.”
The MDSCAA encourages anyone in need of resources during the shutdown to call 2-1-1 or visit mi211.org. For more information on the Menominee Delta Schoolcraft Community Action Agency’s early childhood programs, visit mdscaa.org.
