When Mikila Collins thinks again when her daughter and son were younger, she did not know what she was doing without pre -school.
As one of the working parents, Collins relied on the Little Hand Center for Creative Child Care of the Federal Program that enhances educational skills and social skills for low -income children. I love her children.
“I have opened a lot of support for myself as a single mother, I work abroad and try to make sure my children were good and they had what they needed,” said Collins, who is now calling for the start of the head and she is working on a university degree in human development and family studies.
In pre -school for her children near 71 and Ashland, they followed it through all paperwork and “make sure I have any kind of family services that I need.” Her 17 -year -old children at Walter Payton Preparatory Secondary School, and the 8 -year -old students at the Minier Elementary School are now flourishing.
This week, President Donald Trump's discounts in spending hundreds of workers across the country overseeing pre -school and supporting young people and adolescence parents, health and safety control in children's care centers, including dozens of employees in Chicago.
The closure of offices in Chicago, four other cities leave pre -school operators and other organizations that receive federal scholarships to support vulnerable children and their families without assistance.
In Illinois alone, about 28,000 children learn in 102 provinces of pre -school with funding from about $ 478 million in major grants. Head Start-often says young and community teachers, but also organizations that educate and support parents during pregnancy and childhood-they have not been informed of what can be expected after that.
“The programs are left without any kind of support and children's programs,” said Selena Sarilo from an early start, an early childhood education organization in Chicago that runs preschool and its partners with pre -school. “This is not only about the truly converted federal workers who are stopped.”
Sarillo said that starting early is due to a second batch of her main funds – six months of financing for 2000 children – on April 30. But reaching these funds requires approval from Head Start employees, and people historically in the Chicago office. Without it, you will face weak options for the services – and perhaps from those – to reduce.
Three federal workers told the sun times that they had put a paid leave until June and ordered not to work or communicate with customers as part of the huge discounts. The number of employees who were cut in Chicago is not clear from Friday, when Federal officials admitted that 20 % of the employees were accidentally terminated.
The spokesperson for health and humanitarian services, the agency that manages the beginning and similar programs, has not responded to questions from Sun-Times.
“There is a lot of uncertainty.” “We have families facing uncertainty and anxiety. We also have these companies, and we know what it means to them.”
Bleith said that Head Start gives the past five years, and Easterseals in its last year, so it must be re -submitted soon. About 1,400 children in the Chicago area return to 35 pre -school sites that make eassterseals directly or with community partners.
However, the most urgent concern is that service providers need federal approval to make any changes to budgets or repairs to buildings, and this check comes from the regional office employees assigned to monitor the complex Federal Program of $ 12 billion that was established to withdraw children from poverty.
“Everyone has allocated a regional specialist,” Bleith said. “I met with us at least once a month, every month a permanent meeting. At any time I had questions or I needed anything, it was available.”
This included a violent incident outside the Esterseals facility last year, and Bleith said: “The regional office was very supportive and found additional funding for us to advance” to security.
So far, there have been no problems in reaching the funding that was already allocated by Congress. But if this changes, the effect will be floundered quickly, which leads to the demobilization of workers and the pieces, or even the closure of the child's care, according to LaLith.
Along with Head Start, the office in the center of Chicago provided grants and assistance for other vulnerable children in Illinois and five other states in the Middle West: child support, care, children's services without stable housing, cash support for families in crises – as well as child care.
Mixella Collins says her 17 -year -old daughter, Timeeh, in the picture above, thrives in Walter Payetton high school high school and hesitated in the main early childhood program for her success.
Ruth Friedman, her leader until Trump took office, said that the childcare office is “a program worth $ 12 billion, helping nearly one million families a month to bear the care of the child.” It also sets the minimum health and safety standards for almost all children's care programs in the country – things such as safe sleep practices, correct first aid, and checking training and background for its employees. Countries are funded to meet these standards, including annual inspections of children's care programs.
“Each one state will be affected,” said Friedman. “There are not enough employees to manage this program correctly and make sure that we are doing our best with these decisive federal dollars. You can't do more at less; you cannot do the same at the same.
“What this means is that caring for a child will become less safe, more expensive for families and hardening them.”
The appointed employees were already sent as a “test” in February via the federal government in previous rounds of acute federal discounts.
“Among the test staff who have never returned, and now, the services we provide to the states, tribes and territories will be severely reduced,” said Chicago, an employee based in Chicago. “When you take hatred to employment without looking at the effects or a plan to support them, this is the place where you revolve in the health and safety of children, and this is really frightening.”
Until this week, the Chicago office also provided funding for emergency youth refugees, transitional housing, the homes of the Motherhood Group for pregnant adolescents and communication with the streets, then supervised these programs, including visits and inspections.
On Thursday, the best HHS sponsorship was sent from the HHS grant to the fact that the unification of offices will save $ 1.8 billion per year and “will use multiple goals without affecting important services … We are here to ensure a smooth experience with our progress together.”
The employees who were placed on leave are represented by the National Employees Union, which last month joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration due to the discounts in the federal government. Sherrill Monroe, head of the class, who represents the employees who take Chicago, said they are considering more legal measures.
The offices also closed in Boston, New York, San Francisco and Sayattle.
Lori Morrison Frisht, president of the Illinois Head Start Association, said in the indication that the five who remained open-in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Denver and Denver, Kansas City and Philadelphia-in the states in which Trump won, in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Denver City and Philadelphia-in the states in which Trump won.
She said: “If there is unification of offices throughout the country, this will slow down.” “The difficult part is that there was no plan to run it. It is not effective, it's the opposite of being effective.”
