WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is demanding answers from the Trump Administration on why half of Wisconsin’s Head Start programs, which provide childcare and preschool education to children, were unable to access previously approved federal funding, forcing at least one program to shutter. After the Trump Administration illegally ordered a pause on previously Congressionally approved federal grants and loans, half of Wisconsin Head Start programs were locked out of systems they use to pay staff and keep operations running. “Head Start is a critical lifeline for families,” wrote Senator Baldwin in a letter to the Acting Secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Head Start. “Disruptions in services impact entire communities – from the children who are unable to be in the classroom, to the parents who are unable to work due to the lack of childcare, and Head Start professionals who love their jobs but are unable to be in their classrooms. I am also deeply concerned about the impact this chaos will have on the recruitment and retention of staff at Head Start centers.” Last week, the Trump Administration sent a letter from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directing a pause on virtually all federal grants and loans, with minimal details on what programs would and would not be impacted. While the memo was later rescinded, eight Head Start programs around the state have continued to experience issues accessing their federal funding, forcing one Head Start Center in Waukesha to close last week and leaving more than 250 families without childcare. “It is clear that funding issues persisted even after the Administration attempted to backtrack on the OMB memo and clarify that it did not apply to Head Start programs and following federal court orders that blocked the implementation of the memo,” wrote Senator Baldwin. “I am still hearing from Head Start grantees in Wisconsin who are continuing to have problems accessing their funds. I request your immediate attention to resolve any outstanding issues for Head Start payment systems.” In her letter, Senator Baldwin asked Dorothy A. Fink, M.D., Acting Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, and Tala Hooban, Acting Director of the Office of Head Start, to immediately respond with the following:
- A full accounting of the directives your department and agency received from the Trump Administration regarding the initial freeze of federal funds in the OMB memo.
- A full accounting of the directives received from the Trump Administration regarding the disbursement of federal funds after the clarification that the freeze did not apply to Head Start programs and after federal court orders were issued blocking implementation of the OMB memo.
- The number of Head Start grantees who were unable to access or experienced difficulties in accessing the Payment Management System – the system used to access their federal funding – on or after January 28 and the dates in which they were unable to access the system.
- Detail the reasons as to why these users were unable to access the Payment Management System.
- Information on what resources you need, funding or otherwise, to ensure these issues do not happen in the future.
A full version of this letter is available here and below.
