Sullivan County Head Start to reopen April 9

Approximately 200 children will be able to return to the facilities

MONTICELLO — A federal service provider that took over Sullivan County Head Start after its sudden closure in February will temporarily resume Head Start services at three facilities on Tuesday, April 9, while the search for a permanent provider continues.

The reopening will allow 200 children in Head Start and Early Head Start Services to return to the program, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said in a statement, citing information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

An inquiry to HHS was not returned Friday afternoon.

Sullivan County Head Start, which provided educational opportunities to low-income children in the county, announced its unexpected closure on Feb. 2 but did not provide information about the reason. The nonprofit later relinquished its federal Head Start grant, which allowed the federal Office of Head Start to transition its operations to another service provider, Community Development Institute Head Start.

The federal Administration for Children and Families had 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,” a spokesperson for the federal agency said in February.

Sullivan County District 3 Legislator Brian Mcphillips was appointed to Sullivan County Head Start’s board in February after the closure. He praised Friday’s news in a statement but said the process to find a permanent provided will take “many months.”

“While longtime Executive Director Bertha Williams has now retired, the board of Sullivan County Head Start Inc. continues to regularly meet, with the intention of applying for federal funding to once again operate the local Head Start program,” Mcphillips said.

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 pre-school-age children — as well as Early Head Start, which served primarily low-income families, pregnant women and children up to 3 years old.

It was not immediately clear how many former employees would be rehired.

The program’s closure deeply impacted families and employees who relied on the center for child care and work.

Dana Inzirillo, a Monticello resident whose 3year-old daughter Rose attended Sullivan County Head Start, was notified on Friday about the April 9 reopening by a teacher. Inzirillo described the last two months as stressful. She said that while her husband works, she has stayed home with Rose, bringing her along on errands and trying to keep her entertained, although her daughter misses seeing her teachers and friends at school.

“She keeps saying, ‘school, school, school,’ but now she’s even happier,” Inzirillo said Friday. “We’re just all happy and relieved and blessed because it was tough.”

While the news was received with relief, some families have decided not to bring their children back to Head Start. Youngsville resident Tasheeka Holland said she will keep her 3year-old daughter Melody at Healthy Kids in Liberty, where she enrolled after Head Start closed.

“It’s quite far, but I’ve had a great experience with Healthy Kids thus far. I will not change her school. I wouldn’t do that to my daughter, to enroll her into a school and take her out to be registered on another program again that doesn’t seem like they got it together,” said Holland, adding that the information she has received about the possible reopening has been confusing.

“We’re very happy to hear the news that the federal government’s interim operator, CDI, is resuming Head Start services to children and families on Tuesday. Our team has worked closely with theirs to ensure CDI and staff have all the support they need to successfully welcome back our residents. We look forward to continuing that partnership, including when Head Start transitions to a permanent operator,” Sullivan County Legislature Chair and District 2 Legislator Nadia Rajsz said. “I’m personally glad to see these children once again receiving the services they need from teachers and staff they’ve known all their young lives.”

Over the past few months, families have been in contact with local stakeholders, state and federal representatives to find additional child care while CDI took over Head Start operations.

“Sullivan Head Start should have never closed to begin with. And it’s unnerving that these disruptions to families and staff went on for so long,” U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro, whose district includes all of Sullivan County, said in a statement on Friday afternoon. “As the work continues to secure a permanent provider, there will be a simultaneous effort to deliver accountability for the closure.”