Sullivan County Head Start gives up federal grant
MONTICELLO — Sullivan County Head Start, which provided educational opportunities to low-income children in the county before closing suddenly on Feb. 2, has relinquished its federal Head Start grant, which will allow the federal Office of Head Start to transition the program to another service provider in the county on an interim basis.
The news was first announced in a release from U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro and confirmed by county Legislator Brian Mcphillips and the federal Administration for Children and Families, which oversees the Head Start office.
Community Development Institute Head Start will operate the program on an interim basis, though it was not immediately clear how long the transition will take. The Office of Head Start will eventually choose a new provider via an open grant competition, a spokesperson from the Administration for Children and Families said, adding that the office will work with Sullivan County Head Start to connect families to nearby early education providers.
A person who answered the phone at Sullivan County Head Start declined to answer questions when a reporter called Thursday afternoon. Sullivan County Head Start board president Shirley Ann Felder did not return requests for comment.
“Although this strips Sullivan Head Start from overall control of what has been commonplace for the last 40-plus years, it’s in our opinion the
best way to move forward to get us back to a potential of Sullivan County Head Start under new guidelines and a new board,” Mcphillips said Thursday morning at the Legislature’s Management and Budget Committee meeting.
Community Development Institute Head Start will have access to different grant funding to meet its needs as an interim provider. All students who were enrolled in the program will be included in the process, said Mcphillips, who was appointed to Sullivan County Head Start’s board to help with the transition alongside Commissioner of Community Resources Laura Quigley and Sullivan County Child Care Council Executive Director Donna Willi.
‘Fiscal mismanagement’
Sullivan County Head Start offered educational programs to 349 children and families at three centers
and employed 83 full-time and 11 part-time employees, according to its website. At its Monticello and Woodbourne locations, it ran a Head Start program — an early childhood development program for low-income preschool-age children, as well as its Early Head Start program, which served primarily low-income families, pregnant women and children up to 3 years old.
Last April, it was awarded $3.6 million in federal funding to continue operating through March 31, 2024, according to the Administration for Children and Families. But in a Facebook post on Feb. 2, the organization said it would be closed until further notice due to “unforeseen circumstances.”
The brief statement, which lacked an explanation as to why it was closing, sparked confusion among employees and families who relied on the program.
That same day, the nonprofit also notified the Administration for Children and Families, which confirmed that Sullivan County Head Start was awarded 12 months of funding last April. But “as a result of fiscal mismanagement, the organization does not have sufficient federal funding remaining to continue operating their Head Start and Early Head Start program,” the spokesperson from the Administration for Children and Families said.
Assistance for affected families
Following the announcement of the closure, several agencies have been working in the county to assist affected families and former employees.
County spokesman Dan Hust encouraged families looking for childcare or former employees who lost their jobs to call Sullivan County’s Health and Human Services at 845-2920100 for assistance.
Molinaro said his office is continuing to push for the situation to be resolved immediately. To assist affected families, Molinaro’s constituent services team will hold mobile office hours to share comments and receive assistance from 12 to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15, at the Woodbourne Fire Department.
Healthy Kids Programs has a licensed childcare center at 518 Broadway in Monticello and another licensed center at 68 State St. in Liberty available to affected families, said Heather Lynn, chief marketing and registration officer of Healthy Kids Programs. The office is converting all available space to open more classrooms and should be able to open five new preschool classrooms within the next two weeks. The tuition is parent-pay and childcare assistance from the Department of Social Services is accepted. Healthy Kids also offers a four-week grace period with no tuition paid while families apply for assistance. Affected families can email elcregistration@healthykidsprograms.com or call 845-330-0200 to learn more.
“Having kids without childcare and providers without a job for this amount of time is unacceptable,” Molinaro said.