MONTICELLO, NY — A federal contractor will help Head Start get back on its feet in Sullivan County. 

But it will be another month before the preschool reopens, said John Liddle, commissioner of the county Department of Social Services (DSS), on February 8. 

Head Start’s abrupt closure on February 2, announced only with a brief Facebook post that raised more questions than answers, upended the lives of the families of the nearly 400 children who attend the program, and its 100 employees. U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-19) announced that the provider has now relinquished its grant, clearing the way for a new provider to take over.

The office of New York Senator Chuck Schumer told Liddle and Nadia Rajsz, the chair of the county legislature, it would take about a month before an interim grant operator could start, he said. 

“She made it clear, I made it clear, Sullivan County government is committed to accelerating that timeline as much as possible,” Liddle said. “But it’s really up to the Head Start federal office to bring that interim vendor. But, as soon as they’re on the ground, we’re ready to engage with them.”

In the meantime, Liddle said he is “ready, willing, and able to bring all of my department’s resources.” 

He said he was “a bit frustrated and certainly a little disappointed with the federal response.” The federal regional office “received very good support” from Orange County, he said.

District 5 legislator Cat Scott said, “There wasn’t a single county official or elected official that didn’t understand that this was a crisis and how much this crisis was impacting our community. So apologies for the silence, but we didn’t have information to share, and when we did, we did share.”

She said DSS is working to fill the gap “for the families in a really tight situation that have reached out....We do have names, locations, and contact information that we are sharing back with folks as they call in.”

Molinaro in a press release said he will hold mobile office hours from noon to 2 p.m. on Thursday, February 15, at the Woodbourne Fire Department, 355 Firehouse Road, Woodbourne, NY.

Head Start is a federally funded program established in 1965 that provides early childhood education and other services to low-income families. Most Head Start participants are three or four years old but, since 1995, infants, toddlers, and pregnant women have been served in Early Head Start programs. Sullivan County has both programs.

Sullivan County Head Start was established in 1989, although the first Head Start center in the county was established in 1965.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the date of the meeting, which was February 8, not January 8. The River Reporter regrets the error.