Child Care Associates avoids layoffs after securing funding from the federal Head Start program.
TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — A Tarrant County nonprofit that provides childcare to nearly 900 families avoided layoffs Monday after it received funding through the federal Head Start program.
On the same day that over 300 childcare providers were slated to be laid off, Child Care Associates, an early childhood development nonprofit in North Texas, received funding from the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Head Start that allowed the nonprofit to avert the layoffs and resume programming.
Head Start and Early Head Start are federal programs administered through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The longstanding program helps prepare children from low-income families to succeed in school through funding preschool programs and providing services for infants, toddlers and pregnant women.
Child Care Associates was notified in May that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services experienced an “administrative delay in confirming the specific timing of Head Start grant funding,” according to a statement from the agency.
Child Care Associates has partnered with the National Head Start program since the 1970s, overseeing Head Start and Early Head Start programs to support families and pregnant women in Tarrant County.
After Child Care Associates was notified of the possible delay in grant funding, it confronted an uncertain future by suspending summer programming on June 4 and giving over 300 employees 60 days’ notice of a potential layoff.
“Unfortunately, this interrupts any plans for summer programming for our families,” Child Care Associates said in a statement in May. “We are empathetic to the challenges this creates for our families. However, we will invest the time to reset this summer and will aim to be back fully engaged for families who choose CCA’s education and care option.
On June 30, the day Child Care Associates’ current grant funding would have run out, the nonprofit was awarded the funding it needed to avert layoffs, the nonprofit announced. With the grant funding in place, Child Care Associates can continue providing Head Start Services to 899 families, the nonprofit said in a release.
As a result of the last-minute funding, no Child Care Associates employees were laid off, and three people voluntarily transitioned during the 2-month period of funding uncertainty, the nonprofit confirmed.
“This investment is essential for CCA to sustain the employment of highly qualified educators and support staff,” Kara Waddell, president and CEO of Child Care Associates, said. “Well-compensated early educators are critical to ensuring the stability, consistency, and high-quality care that Texas families need today.”