Quick Take
A free child care program serving low-income families in Santa Cruz County will remain open through October after securing $362,000 in emergency funding from local agencies, following a sudden loss of federal support. Encompass Community Services, which operates Head Start programs for over 250 children, is now working with community partners and federal officials to restore long-term funding.
A federally funded child care program offering free services to low-income families will remain open through the end of October after the provider raised alarms last week that unexpected gaps in finances might shutter it this Friday.
Local health services nonprofit Encompass Community Services announced Monday that a group of agencies have helped it secure $362,000 to keep its Head Start programs open for several more weeks while it continues to seek long-term funding. Head Start programs serve more than 250 children and their families in the county across 15 classrooms staffed by 95 workers.
“We are deeply grateful to our partners for stepping forward with urgency, collaboration and a deep understanding of how vital Head Start is to working families,” Shellee Stopera, CEO of Encompass Community Services, said in a statement. “This partnership is an incredible example of what’s possible when a community comes together to put children and families first.”
Encompass officials said two main losses led the organization to have to announce last week it would have to close by Friday. First, it learned in recent weeks that the Trump administration had ended the practice of allowing the use of unspent funds from the prior year, known as carryover funds, resulting in the loss of about $400,000. In August, the federal government informed Encompass it reduced the annual budget going to the nonprofit to run the Head Start programs in Santa Cruz County for next fiscal year from $10 million to $6 million.
But since that announcement, the organization’s fortunes have changed, at least for this month.
The County of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County Office of Education and First 5 Santa Cruz County are expected to contribute funding to continue operating at least through Oct. 31. Of the total $362,000 designated funds, the County Office of Education is providing $122,000 and on Tuesday, the board of supervisors will vote to approve the remainder: $240,000.
In the meantime, Encompass Community Services is working with local partners, such as the county agencies and Rep. Jimmy Panetta, to press the federal government to reinstate the funding and secure other long-term funds.
Encompass communications consultant Renae Donus told Lookout that the nonprofit had received $10 million a year for Head Start’s annual programming for at least the past five years.
In prior years, the nonprofit had also often been granted carryover funds up to $750,000, meaning it was able to roll over this amount from one year to the next. Earlier this year, Encompass received written approval to carry over about $400,000, but the Trump administration later refused to provide the funds.
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