Half of the Wisconsin initial start programs does not have access to the necessary funds after the federal freezing – WisConsin Public Radio News

One week after the Trump administration pauses on federal grants and loans, many Wisconsin start -up programs still cannot gain access to the necessary funds and are uncertain whether they can remain open.

While the White House has publicly canceled the note announcing the freezing, non -profit organizations around the state announce that they remain locked by the payment systems they use to pay the staff and maintain operations.

“I hear from people from all over the country and here in Wisconsin that they are still affected by the freezing,” Sean Fettes told Wisconsin Today. “There is a lot of confusion right now, but if you talk to Head Starts, if you talk to childcare providers … They are still frozen and they have no access to the funds.”

Petteplace is the national campaign manager of Main Street Alliance, one of the organizations who jointly brought a case against the Trump administration, claiming that freezing funding violates the detention Act and is unconstitutional as the congress holds the power of the bag.

But while legal battles play in court, organizations that rely on federal funding remain in the limbs. Head Start, who supports children up to five years from low -income families, has approximately 4,500 Wisconsin employees.

Jen Bailey, President of the Wisconsin’s Main Start Association, said about half of the programs for a start in the state as of Friday are not yet able to receive funding.

This includes children’s and family -run children’s and family centers in Vukesha, which closed their doors last week after the freezing announcement. Tim Nolan, who runs the program, told Wisconsin Today, he received a notice from the management and budget service or Omb, last Monday, directing the center to close by the end of the day on Tuesday.

“When Omb asks, you do it,” he said. “So we did as they told us to do on Tuesday, which was closed.”

Later, when he followed the state of freezing funding, Nolan was told on programs such as Head Start and wheels feeding would not be affected. But since then, he said that the US Department of Finance Payment Management System, which he uses to ask for funds for things like rent and salaries, does not work.

While financing requests usually take only two to three days to process, Nolan said the request he had made last Tuesday was still a “pending review”. And unless the problems with the payment management system are quickly resolved, he will not be able to pay his staff on time.

“I am not glad to miss the first salary in the 57 years in which I do the job,” he said.

Nolan is not sure how many of his 65 employees will be able to return if the center opens its doors again. He said he had heard from a longtime employee that she was not able to apply for unemployment and would probably have to look for a new job.

On top of that, the closure leaves many local families in the bat. Nolan said the Vukesha program serves more than 300 children out of 250 families.

“These are real people with real life who really breaks badly,” Nolan said.

He believes how this situation with Head Start plays is “crucial to the future of Wisconsin families.”

This May, Head Start is ready to celebrate its 60th birthday. But Nolan is worried about the future of the program in the light of the events of the week.

“Will there be 61st, 62nd year?” He asked. “Who knows? I don’t know. “

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