Four hundred of your colleagues are here in Washington for NHSA’s Fall Leadership Institute. As you can imagine, we’ve been intensely focused on the shutdown and the events leading up to it. Based on the kinds of questions we have been receiving, I felt it might be useful to provide you a summary of our situation.
How did we get here? The Federal fiscal year runs October 1 – September 30. Leading up to the end of a fiscal year is a budget process in which the House and Senate each develop a set of spending bills and work through a series of compromises to arrive at a single budget to send to the President. Not surprisingly, the two chambers have not been able to agree on a budget for quite a while and the Federal Government has been funded through a series of Continuing Resolutions.
What is a Continuing Resolution? Intended as a short-term, stopgap method of funding the government while the House and Senate negotiate appropriations, a Continuing Resolution (CR) has become the de facto Federal budget. It funds the government at the previous year’s levels and has a fixed term.
Why can’t a new CR fund the Federal Government? The answer is, not surprisingly, politics. A faction of the Republican party in the House has linked their desire to end the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to the CR process. Their strategy is to defund the ACA by amending the CR bill to prohibit funding ACA. Other amendments were also added to the House version of CR legislation.
The majority in the Senate – not wanting to see ACA gutted – stripped the amendments from the CR legislation and sent it back to the House – a “Clean Bill.” This game of political ping pong continued until time ran out last night at midnight. Without a budget or a CR, the Federal Government shut its doors at midnight.
What does this mean for Head Start and Early Head Start? Programs with a grant year that differs from the Federal fiscal year may continue drawing down funds and offering services to their children and families. Programs with grants beginning October 1 will not be supported by Federal Head Start funds as long as the shutdown lasts. Preliminary estimates show that as many as 19,000 children could be affected.
How do I get more information? Twenty-three grantees have a grant period starting October 1. Yesterday (September 30), Yvette Sanchez Fuentes delivered a letter to each of these describing the circumstances they face. I also called all 23 programs last week to offer NHSA’s support. Please note that Federal staff are barred from entering federal buildings, so it is likely no one will be at the Office of Head Start or at regional offices to answer your questions. We are doing everything we can to obtain additional information. If you are one of the affected 23 programs and need information, please call me at 617-599-0177.
This is a tragic time for the children and families in the affected programs. It is also a scary time for our nation. Be assured that we are doing everything we can to obtain information and resources that can help you get through it.
Sincerely,
Yasmina Vinci
Executive Director
