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20240222-151213-09news09- briefs head start 1.pdf

20240222-151429-09news09- briefs head start 2.pdf

LIBERTY, NY — Despite his office on Capitol Hill, his staff, and his subpoena power (which ordinary citizens and newspapers do not have), U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-19) hasn’t yet found an answer to the most basic question raised by the sudden closure of Sullivan County Head Start: Why?

“Why” topped the list of still-unanswered questions that Molinaro sent today to Xavier Becerra, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the federal agency that administers Head Start, whose office is a half-mile from Molinaro’s. Why did Sullivan Head Start close so abruptly on February 2, leaving nearly 400 children and their families in the lurch?

He also asked about HHS oversight, and what the agency knew about Sullivan Head Start’s financial straits before it closed. He asked how HHS will protect students from further service interruptions, and how it will notify families in sufficient time before they happen.

“I believe we can agree this is an unprecedented incident that cannot occur again,” Molinaro said in his letter to Becerra. “Taking steps to prevent this from happening anywhere in America can only be a benefit and ought to be a goal.”

Molinaro said Sullivan Head Start had received enough money to stay open through March and that additional funds were teed up to support the school beyond that.

He said he has connected more than 60 families affected by the closure with alternative daycare and is helping Sullivan County find a new temporary and permanent Head Start provider.

“The closure of Sullivan Head Start is impacting hundreds of children, families, and providers,” Molinaro said in a statement. “While we continue our work to find a new temporary and permanent provider in Sullivan County, we also need to take steps now to prevent an incident like this from ever happening again. I’m calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to step up and implement strong oversight measures of the Head Start program.”

Molinaro had earlier called the leadership of Sullivan County Head Start “incompetent” and also criticized the sluggish response by Head Start’s federal regional office.

NY Senator Chuck Schumer’s office told county officials earlier in February that Head Start would return in about a month, bringing the date to early March.