Joplin Head Start funded for now, but shutdown could cause future problems

Will the government shutdown affect the Head Start program? 

Joplin Area Head Start Director Lisa Harnar tells Newstalk KZRG, not now but could after the first of the year:

“Right now, all of our program specialists and our regional offices are closed. Everybody is furloughed. So the people who review my grants are not working. My grant is actually due January 1st. And so typically they start reviewing my grant by February. But if we’re closed, as you can imagine, there’ll be a backlog of other people’s grants that they need to approve before mine.” 

Harnar went on to say:  “So my grant ends March 31. If they don’t get time to review it, then, yes, that will definitely affect my program, and it will affect 453 children and families.”

The Joplin area Head Start is run by the Joplin Economic Security Corporation.