By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The federal government shutdown is over, but its effects linger, with some area Head Start programs temporarily closing down earlier this week.
But Wood County’s two Head Start locations remained open since they are on a different grant funding cycle, according to Alex Boroff, public relations director for the Great Lakes Community Action Partnership, which oversees Head Start programs in the region.
However, two locations in Toledo were closed Monday and Tuesday, with plans to reopen them on Wednesday after the Head Start funds came through, Boroff said.
The Wood County locations – one at the Jordan Family Development Center at Bowling Green State University, and the other in Perrysburg – serve approximately 100 children aged 3 to 5.
The facilities offer preschool at no cost through Head Start for eligible families, helping prepare children for kindergarten.
“It’s so hard to summarize what Head Start does,” Boroff said. “This is where children are getting their first education.”
The programs provide full-day preschool, meals, snacks, plus health and wellness exams.
Head Start is a very “family oriented” program, Boroff said. Parents can serve on committees and help in classrooms.
“This is a program that helps working families,” he said. “So parents and caregivers can go to work” while their children are educated.
The halt in funds earlier this week came as payment delays continue to exist after the shutdown affecting the Department of Health and Human Services, which funds Head Start programs.
That came as a tough hit for families who rely on the program that is income based, serving those at federal poverty levels, those who receive SNAP food benefits, children who are homeless or are in foster care.
“Our families affected by this are really hoping to get back to service,” Boroff said.
Head Start programs, which are free to those families, often have more children than they can serve.
“It’s not uncommon to have waiting lists at centers,” Boroff said.
There are no current waiting lists for the programs in Wood County, which presently serve 64 children in Bowling Green and 34 in Perrysburg.
