Feds keep Head Start on month-to-month basis

Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005 | 8:31 a.m.

The federal government plans to pull $12 million in Head Start funding to the Economic Opportunity Board but is continuing to fund the program on a month-to-month basis as the EOB appeals the decision, a federal official said.

The Department of Health and Human Services will continue to fund the Head Start program on a monthly basis as long as EOB provides the federal government with proper receipts and expenditures detailing the EOB's valid monthly expenses, said Steve Barbour, a department spokesman.

The expenses EOB must detail, he said, include salaries, lease costs and materials. The funding schedule allows for basic day-to-day operations to continue but limits any long-term planning, he said.

"It's not a good thing because it doesn't provide a lot of wiggle room for (the EOB) to plan six months into the future," he said.

He said the month-to-month funding is to "protect the resources of the government, the taxpayers."

There is no schedule for when the appeals process will be complete, Barbour said.

He confirmed that the federal government has decided not to renew Head Start funding for the EOB because of continued mismanagement.

The EOB has been on a month-to-month funding schedule since January 2005, when the government sent a letter stating that it would terminate funding for Head Start because it didn't comply with the federal requirements and ongoing management problems.

The federal government recently sent another letter to the EOB saying it was going to stop funding the program because of continued management problems. The EOB, however, is appealing.

Jean Childs, interim executive director of the EOB, said the organization is implementing better management and money management policies to get in line with the federal requirements.

"We're ensuring that the organization is in fiscal soundness and fiscal compliance," she said.

The Head Start program will continue in Southern Nevada even if the EOB doesn't win the appeal. The funding will go to another organization that wins a bid for the contract.