By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
OLEAN — Cattaraugus-Wyoming Project Head Start classes are set to resume on Monday — eight school days after closing down in the face of the Trump administration freezing federal funding.
About 200 children in the two counties and their parents were affected in addition to more than 80 employees teachers, administrators and other staff.
On Tuesday, Jan. 27, Cataraugus-Wyoming Head Start employees were told it would be their last day until the Trump federal funding freeze was lifted. They were advised to take personal items home.
While the funding freeze was quickly reversed when a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order and complaints began flooding into congressional and Senate offices, the Cattaraugus-Wyoming Head Start agency — like many others — has not had full access to its funding system restored.
Just over half of the $300,000 the Cattaraugus-Wyoming Project Head Start has encumbered — about $170,000 — has been accessed and will be used to maintain a slimmed-down program over the next two weeks while things get sorted out.
The Trump Administration said the freeze was intended to exempt Head Start, but many projects still have not had full access to their funding restored.
In a press conference Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said President Donald Trump cannot deny funding to an agency created and funded by Congress. Without some direction from officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, children and parents are “left in limbo,” Schumer said.
Cattaraugus-Wyoming Project Head Start has programs in Olean, Salamanca and Franklinville schools, the Olean Head Start Center, the Delevan Head Start Center and Perry Head Start Center.
It provides services for children ages 3 and 4, whose families meet income guidelines. The comprehensive development program is aimed at helping children get ready for school and to provide a daycare option for parents.
Dani Amore, director of Cattaraugus-Wyoming Project Head Start, said the funds that have been unfrozen will be used to pay staff, but some cost-cutting measures will also be needed.
The lack of child care alternatives in the rural area served by Cattaraugus-Wyoming Project Head Start has prompted the agency to restore services without guarantees of how long encumbered funds will remain available, according to Amore.
She said some families have had to leave the program because they could not go for more than a week without childcare. There are few other options in the local daycare desert.
__________________________________________________________
All Rights Reserved. Star News LLC. Eric Firkel.
