A “catastrophic” loss of funding is little over a week away for Head Start centers serving 2,500 children across Oklahoma.
If the nationwide government shutdown continues, four Head Start programs in Oklahoma will run out of federal funding on Nov. 1, threatening the closure of dozens of child care centers primarily serving low-income families in rural areas. These four Head Start programs, including centers operated by the Cherokee Nation and Choctaw Nation, reach the end of their fiscal year on Oct. 31.
“It’s a very dire situation right now, and the longer it goes on, the harder it’s going to be on our people that are greatest in need,” said Curtiss Mays, president of the Oklahoma Head Start Directors Association.
The Cherokee Nation has contingency plans in place if the shutdown continues, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. said in a statement.
The vast majority of the $12.9 million budget for Cherokee early childhood services in 2024-25 came from federal funds, the tribal nation reported. The Cherokee Nation enrolls 680 children ages 3-5 in its Head Start programs and another 200 in Early Head Start, which serves infants and children up to age 3.
Hoskin said federal funds for food assistance and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program also are immediate concerns during the shutdown.
“While we stand ready to do our part, implementing such plans comes at a real cost to the Cherokee Nation, one that should never fall on tribes fulfilling the federal government’s Treaty and Trust responsibilities,” he said. “We do hope both sides of the aisle work on a path forward and reopen the government as soon as possible and call on the administration to honor the government’s Treaty and Trust responsibilities, avoid needless cuts to Tribal programs and personnel, and use its authorities to minimize harm to tribes and tribal citizens.”
The Choctaw Nation did not return a request for comment. Its tribal government operates 14 Head Start centers in rural cities across its reservation in southeast Oklahoma. In 2022-23, Choctaw Head Start centers served 337 children, according to an annual report.
Along with the two tribal nations, two nonprofits that operate several child care centers in rural Oklahoma also face a loss of funding on Nov. 1, Mays said.
Community Action Resource and Development runs 11 Head Start and Early Head Start locations in Washington, Wagoner, Rogers and Mays counties and in Broken Arrow.
United Community Action Program serves 783 children from birth to age 5. It operates 15 Head Start and two Early Head Start centers in eight counties across northeast and northern Oklahoma.
The program director for United did not return a request for comment. Oklahoma Voice was unable to reach Community Action Resource and Development.
Mays said the closure of a Head Start center would cause cascading harm to its surrounding community. Parents might have to stay home from school or work, costing household income and straining local businesses, and children would lose the opportunity to continue their early education, he said.
The federal Head Start program has served more than 30 million children across the country since its founding in 1965 under President Lyndon B. Johnson.
In 2024, it provided $196 million to support child care centers, health screenings, meals and family services for 14,846 Oklahoma children. Most families who qualify live in poverty.
Some Oklahoma Head Start providers receive their federal funds earlier in the year and therefore aren’t impacted by the government shutdown. For example, the Community Action Agency of Oklahoma and Canadian Counties, where Mays is the Head Start program director, starts its federal fiscal year on April 1.
Head Start programs must return unused federal dollars at the end of their fiscal year, which limits their cash reserves, Mays said. The centers facing a funding cliff on Nov. 1 might have a small runway to continue operating, he said, “but it wouldn’t be a very long one.”
“We’d be able to make it maybe about a week or two, and then we would have to look at shutting down or closing down sites at least temporarily,” Mays said. “That’s a pretty catastrophic result for any program both in the short and long term.”
The National Head Start Association warned 134 programs serving 58,627 children across 41 states and Puerto Rico would lose federal funding if the shutdown continues to Nov. 1.
Six programs outside of Oklahoma already have lost funding because their fiscal year began Oct. 1, the first day of the shutdown, according to the association.
The organization urged Congress and President Donald Trump to end the shutdown immediately and reach an agreement on a fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill to fund the federal government.
“Head Start isn’t just an education program — it’s a promise of stability,” executive director Yasmina Vinci said in a statement. “When parents go to work or school, they do so knowing their children are safe, learning, and cared for. That sense of stability is priceless, and it’s exactly what’s now at risk.”
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