Across the country, many Head Start programs are temporarily shuttering their doors as the federal government shutdown continues. Nearly 140 programs collectively serving more than 60,000 children were due to receive their annual federal funds on either October 1, 2025, or November 1, 2025. A prolonged government shutdown has a disproportionate impact on Head Start programs because many programs have small budgets and limited access to non-federal resources. In fact, programs are prohibited from keeping more than a few days’ worth of federal funds on hand once they draw down resources from the federal government. 

Recent changes to the federal government—from funding delays to shuttering half of the regional offices—have significantly impacted Head Start programs, and the shutdown is no different. Here are five longer-term consequences that Head Start programs face as they close due to the lapse in appropriations. 

1. Head Start programs will lose staff, possibly permanently. Programs that must close because of the shutdown will issue layoff notices or furlough staff, and staff typically lose pay and sometimes benefits like health insurance. Many Head Start staff have worried about job security for months due to both leaked documents that indicated the Administration at one point planned to eliminate Head Start as well as earlier funding delays. Staff may find other jobs that offer more job security, and many will not return to Head Start even when the government reopens and disburses the delayed funding.
2. Programs that cannot open classrooms or re-enroll children could face oversight consequences. If staff find other employment during a temporary closure, programs will be faced with recruiting and hiring new teachers in the middle of the school year—and classrooms are often closed until a new teacher can be hired. This leaves families without access to Head Start, sometimes for many months. Under-enrolled programs face the possibility of funding recapture.
3. Rural and small Head Start programs are most vulnerable. Head Start programs in rural areas tend to be smaller, making them more vulnerable to disruptions in funding. Larger organizations with larger budgets may be able to sustain operations or draw on other organizational resources to reopen quickly. Smaller programs with fewer resources could lose their buildings if they cannot pay the rent or mortgage and may have to pause or terminate contracts for key services such as food, transportation, and cleaning. Reinstating services may be more difficult as a result.
4. Families may be hesitant to enroll in Head Start. Temporary closures erode trust with families that Head Start programs have earned over years of service to their communities. Most parents with children enrolled in Head Start are working or in job training programs. When Head Start closes, their employment and income are at risk. Families may not seek out Head Start in the future if it is perceived as unreliable.
5. Head Start closures destabilize social services in communities. As many families struggle with rising costs and new restrictions recently passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on nutrition and health care programs, Head Start provides essential services to young children to prepare them for school. Head Start is often one of many programs that educational or social service organizations provide, and organizations proportionally allocate overhead costs such as rent, utilities, and administration. Without Head Start, these organizations face fiscal uncertainty. This uncertainty is compounded by the fact that other federal funds are also at risk. For example, the Administration proposed to eliminate the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and, through its recent reduction in force, is seeking to terminate all federal staff who work on the program. Many Head Start programs also receive CSBG to fund social services, which creates even more operational challenges.

Opportunities to Reduce Harm to Head Start

Congress and the Administration can take advantage of the following opportunities to mitigate the shutdown’s harms to Head Start programs when the government eventually reopens:

• Ensure that grants are backdated to the date when organizations should have received their funds to allow Head Start programs to cover expenses incurred during the shutdown and reopen more quickly. Following previous government shutdowns, Congress has included language in a subsequent Continuing Resolution explicitly stating that grant recipients can use funds to cover expenses and salaries incurred during the shutdown, which would be beneficial to all Head Start grantees grappling with the shutdown.
• Delay monitoring for impacted grantees to provide time to reestablish programs.
• For programs experiencing service disruption, temporarily pause enforcement of Head Start rules about underenrollment to allow time to rehire staff and enroll additional children if needed.
• Consider moving grant start dates to later in the fiscal year to avoid service disruptions during future shutdowns.