Officials at Bloomington-based Heartland Head Start say they are hopeful Head Start funding will not be eliminated as the Trump administration has proposed.
Heartland Head Start interim executive director Chuck Hartseil said it’s not clear what options they would have to sustain programming if Congress were to approve wiping out funding.
“We are almost solely funded through the federal government,” Hartseil said in an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas.
An updated version of the White House budget released Friday has restored funding for Head Start. The spending plan still requires congressional approval.
The early childhood program that serves more than 200 low-income families in McLean and Livingston counties gets about $4.4 million annually from the federal government.
President of the Heartland Head Start governance board, Nancy Ann Elder, said it was “definitely a shock” when the federal budget plan became public.
“I didn’t think it would come to [this],” Elder said. "[Trump] has talked about Head Start before. It’s got to go through the House and Senate, so I’m hopeful that somebody incorporates [the funding] into their budget.”
Hartseil said Head Start has been a budget target previously, but has successfully fended off defunding.
He said if the Trump administration's plans are realized, the burden to keep Head Start afloat would then fall to each state and Illinois isn't exactly flush with cash.
Hartseil said it would come down to the state's priorities. Gov. JB Pritzker has made early childhood education a priority.
That doesn't mean Hartseil feels secure, but he thinks Heartland Head Start can make its case by emphasizing the program's economic benefits.
“Parents that are able to work instead of being on welfare, many of them have low-income jobs, and can’t afford to have their children enrolled in a daycare-type situation,” Hartseil said. “We offer a dual effort in regard to that. One is the education of their children and also taking care of their children during the day.”
Hartseil said Heartland is looking to add additional staff to match the increase in enrollment.
Hartseil said the agency is limited in how many families it can serve that are above income thresholds, which limits the agency’s ability to sustain funding without substantial government support. He added it’s unlikely state funding could make up for an elimination of federal funding.
