Action Pact has discontinued services at its more than one dozen Head Start programs in Georgia due to a lack of federal funding.
WAYCROSS, Ga. — Hundreds of babies and young children in Southeast Georgia won’t be able to attend their normal school classes beginning Nov. 3.
With federal funding drying up, Action Pact announced it would be discontinuing Head Start and Early Head Start programs at all of its locations. The programs provide early education to children from at-risk or low income situations to ensure they have the tools they need to succeed in school. Head Start students range in age from infant to 5-years-old.
“We are truly sorry for the inconvenience the closure will cause for the nearly 600 families we serve and pledge to reopen the program as soon as we have access to the necessary funding,” wrote Action Pact in its announcement.
Executive Director Diane Rogers wrote on social media that almost 200 of the organization’s employees will be home without pay during the closure. For the families with working parents and guardians, they may need to look elsewhere for childcare as their kids are kept out of class.
Action Pact operates more than a dozen Head Start/Early Head Start centers in Georgia, including in Ware, Brantley Charlton and Pierce counties.
More Head Start programs across the country are expected to close in just the latest blow to families in need. Nov. 1 also marked the end of SNAP funding for now. Although the Trump Administration has been ordered to restart funding, it could take time to get a plan finalized and money disbursed,
Some of the local effects have been more permanent. A Jacksonville school, the Jericho School for Children with Autism, cited the shutdown as the reason it closed its doors for good in October.