Preschool Age Program for 13K Children in Washington is confronted with an uncertain future after federal funding Scramble – King5.com

Seattle – Federal Judge in Rod Island Monday said the Trump administration had violated his order to restore the frozen federal funding. The judge said he had made his order clear and “unambiguous”, but that representatives of federal programs across the country had provided evidence of the alleged violation.

According to Joel Ryan, Executive Director of the Washington State Association, which serves 13,000 low -income families from low -income families, the Trump administration continued to deduct these dollars days after the funding was to be restored.

Ryan told King 5 that some of his programs for the main start only regained access to this money on Monday after being locked for more than a week.

“We have never experienced anything like the Trump administration in the first two weeks,” Ryan said.

Ryan said Head Start’s mission was to prepare young children for kindergarten. Head Start offers free pre -school and even low -income support services. He said that 15% of the children they serve are homeless and the rest are in deep poverty.

But for the Head Start teachers, February was confusing and stressful.

“There is a federal payment portal that the Ministry of Health and Human Services operates and they did not have access to it,” Ryan said.

Teachers at Renton, on the Olympic Peninsula and Lake Moses, for example, temporarily lost access to the portals that provide and inform them of their salaries.

“It was really throughout the country. It was completely accidental,” Ryan said. “No one missed any salaries, but she approached a lot … and no child missed the care of children. But the threat was there.”

To make things more committed, all this happened after a federal judge decided to restore the flow of federal funds.

“We were really concerned. There was a lot of confusion and chaos, ”Ryan said. “The programs were actually preparing to close. They have already informed families that they may not have childcare. “

Ryan said he was grateful that it seemed that all the programs for a starting launch in Washington had regained access to the funding portal, but it remains an advantage.

“This is the first time, today they have received information from the initial start service,” Ryan said. “They sent an email to all the programs to start in our country and Washington and the United States, saying,” We’re sorry. There must have been a technical problem. There is a lag. “This is the justification they give to the beneficiaries, but this is the first time they have communicated to become programs throughout the country, and in our country, for this … This is not typical at all.”

The cause of the problem remains almost as unclear as the future.

“I think if the last two weeks are a precursor to what is ahead, I am very concerned,” Ryan said.

According to studies by the Head Start Association, for every dollar invested in the main start, taxpayers save $ 7. These savings, Ryan says, come from various factors, such as reduced participation needed by CPS, higher graduation rates and more jobs performed by these children when they are more large, which could otherwise depend on public aid S

The National Institute for Children’s Health and Human Development also reports that studies show that early training can lead to:

• Higher test results from preschool age up to 21 years
• Better estimates of reading and maths
• A better chance of staying at school and going to college
• Less teenage pregnancies
• Improved mental health
• A lower risk of heart disease in adulthood
• Longer life.