22 Oct Speak Up For Head Start

October 2025: OACAC’s Head Start grant was funded on September 1, and therefore our funding is secure and we are not at risk for shutting down. We are stable and will continue to serve children and families! However, the Head Start program nationwide and all it serves is in need of your support!

The federal government shutdown is threatening Head Start, and we need Congress to act immediately to pass a full FY26 budget or short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) that the President will sign to end the shutdown. Every day the shutdown continues puts more Head Start programs and the children and families they serve at risk. 

Because of the way Head Start grants are funded, six programs in three states serving 6,525 children are already operating without federal funding, drawing on emergency local resources to stay open. By November 1, another 134 programs across 41 states and Puerto Rico, serving 58,627 children, will also face decisions about imminent closure due to lack of federal funds unless Congress and the President act swiftly. Yes – over 65,000 children and their families are at risk of losing access to Head Start in just over two weeks. 

We need you to urge Congress to act NOW! Click here to be directed to the National Head Start Association website for a fillable, simple way to contact Congress.

Continuity of care is essential to healthy child development. Head Start closures or interruptions in service would disrupt family stability and economic security, cutting off access to nutritious meals, physical and mental health checkups, and other vital supports. Reliable care is also crucial for the thousands of parents who depend on Head Start while they work.

We need your help in delivering a loud, unified – and repeated – message: The shutdown threatens Head Start, and Congress must end it immediately and eliminate the threat of Head Start closures.