(The Center Square) – Only a handful of the 1,880 Head Start centers in California appear likely to close after Saturday because of the federal government shutdown, according to National Head Start Association officials.
However, depending on how much longer past Nov. 1 the federal government continues its shutdown, that could change, association officials said.
“Some of those programs might be forced to close,” Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association, told The Center Square. “Many programs are struggling and trying to do everything they can to keep their doors open, but it is a tricky situation, and it does depend on the community.”
Some Head Start centers have been able to acquire other funds, Sheridan told The Center Square, or save money that can continue funding programs through a week or two in November.
However, if the federal shutdown continues well into November, there will be some Head Start centers in California that might have to make the decision to close their doors, according to the association.
An estimated 830 children enrolled in Head Start in California will lose their ability to continue starting Nov. 1, according to an interactive map compiled by The National Head Start Association.
That map on the NHSA’s website, which shows the number of children who will lose access to Head Start, also shows that 253 staff will be impacted.
“For thousands of families, Head Start is not optional — it is essential,” Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the National Head Start Association, said in an Oct. 27 news release issued by the National Head Start Association. “With each passing day of the shutdown, families are pushed closer to crisis. Congress must act now to end the shutdown and protect these children, families and communities.”
Head Start centers are scattered throughout the state, ranging from Southern California to the San Francisco Bay Area, with some in rural areas, Sheridan said.
Almost $1.46 billion is spent every year to keep operations running in California’s Head Start locations, excluding American Indian and Alaska Native programs and the Agricultural Worker Head Start program, which are funded separately, according to a Head Start California fact sheet.
According to the National Head Start Association, about 140 Head Start locations across the country will be forced to close their doors if the federal shutdown continues. More than 65,000 young children in the U.S. attend Head Start programs nationwide, which is often the only place they can go to learn and get nutritious meals, health screenings and other vital services.
The ramifications go beyond just closing the doors to families to acquire free, high-quality child care, association officials said. They noted families with no other option for child care will be forced to stay home with their children instead of going to work and forcing Head Start employees to live without pay.
“A lot of the communities that Head Start serves, especially in rural areas, Head Start might be the only early childhood program in that area,” Sheridan told The Center Square. “Certainly child care subsidy resources and things of that kind are things that families rely on, but that is a separate process families would have to go into. It is certainly an issue we are concerned about, and I think a lot of families are going to be really struggling.”
Across the state, Head Start funds 80,345 students’ seats, of which 48,653 is taken up by preschool students. Just more than 500 seats are designated as American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start seats, and 6,416 seats are designated for migrant and seasonal students. More than 26,000 people work for Head Start in California, according to the National Head Start Association 2025 fact sheet. That sheet also shows that more than 59,000 parents with children in Head Start are in school, job training or working.
Employees with the California Department of Social Services, which operates child care programs and services in the state, were not available to field calls from The Center Square on Wednesday.
