Sequester Cuts Could Cost As Many As 75 Kids Free Childcare, Services

Between 50 and 75 infants, toddlers and young children from low-income households will lose access to free childcare and Head Start services from Youth in Need in the next few months as a result of the federal budget sequester. 

On Friday, $85.4 billion in federal spending cuts took effect as lawmakers failed to reach a deal to avert these automatic cuts. The sequester included $406 million in cuts to the National Head Start program, which is expected to impact 70,000 children across the country. 

According to the White House, roughly 1,200 Missouri children would lose access to Head Start and Early Head Start programs. 

"I think it's disappointing," said Pat Holterman-Hommes, Director of Youth in Need. "I think there's a different way to go about it instead of taking an axe to everything." 

Youth in Need is preparing to cut close to $500,000 from their $17 million budget, with the vast majority of the cuts coming to the Head Start program. 

The $500,000 is about 5 percent of the nonprofit's federal funding award, but the cuts have to be made in the next seven months. 

"It's really quite devastating to us," she said. "We're preparing plans to downsize with very serious impacts to our organization and our staff." 

Youth in Need is considering closing a Head Start center as a way to limit the impact on the number of staff and children. About 20 people will likely lose their jobs, Holterman-Hommes told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

Head Start and Early Head Start provides comprehensive services to low income children and families. Services include access to free childcare, nutrition counseling, early detection of learning delays and social services for families.

Youth in Need offers Head Start in St. Charles, Lincoln, Warren and Montgomery Counties as well as the city of St. Louis. In St. Charles County, there are preschool locations on Campus Drive and on Continental Drive in Wentzville. 

Other service providers, such as the YWCA and Grace Hill Settlement House provide Head Start Service in St. Louis County. 

Youth in Need offers both home-based services and center-based services. Families receive support to help them overcome challenges to secure better employment and ensure they have stable housing. The cuts to services will force low-income families to find alternate childcare.

"The families we serve are the working poor," Holterman-Hommes said. "They may make $15,000 or $20,000 a year. If their childcare is suddenly not available, their choices are to quit their job... or place them in substandard childcare." 

For now, Youth in Need is operating under the assumption that the cuts will be permanent. 

"We don't want to be really making short-term cuts," Holterman-Hommes said. "We are assuming at least this funding level would continue into fiscal year 14 or into even deeper cuts." 

In addition to the Head Start program, Youth in Need receives federal funding for runaway and homeless youth programs. These programs receive a much smaller percentage of federal funding, so the cuts would also be smaller. 

Holterman-Hommes said they expect to hear in April what the funding outlook will be for the transitional living programs.