A proposal of the President Donald Trump administration to eliminate Head Start funding would have huge impacts on Marshalltown.

The proposal is in a draft 2026 budget, and it contains cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start. Whether or not Head Start will make it in the final budget remains to be seen.

The Marshalltown Head Start and Early Head Start programs are run by Mid-Iowa Community Action (MICA), and serve residents in Marshall, Story, Hardin, Poweshiek and Tama counties. Both programs are still being offered at this time.

The programs provide educational services for pregnant women through children up to the age of 5, when they transition to kindergarten. The service for the children is accompanied by holistic support in health, dental, nutrition and; family support, such as developmental, wellness and health screenings, parenting education, connection to medical and dental homes, referrals to resources, goal-setting and adult educational opportunities.

Resource Development and Communications Coordinator Abra Dougherty said they found out about the proposed program elimination after reading an article in a national newspaper. She said the article also listed Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) as another program to receive zero funding, and it is also run for the community by MICA.

“The President’s budget is his thoughts or plans for the fiscal year, but ultimately Congress decides the budget and what programs will be funded,” Dougherty said. “Congress will likely start working on this budget in late spring and summer to be finalized for the start of the new fiscal year. This process takes a long time. The President’s budget, which is yet to be released, is only the first step.”

If eliminating Head Start becomes a reality, MICA would lose approximately $4.1 million. There is enough money to keep the programs running through Nov. 30.

“We serve around 250 children at one time, but serve more than that throughout the year due to turnover,” she said. “Approximately 50 staff who work directly in classrooms and families homes would be impacted. Administration staff would also be impacted, but the number is not fully known at this time.”

Dougherty said there are many stories of how the Marshalltown Head Start programs have benefited kids and families.

“Some short quotes include ‘The best program I have ever been in,’ ‘They have supported my family so much’ and ‘Head Start provided a safe place for my child, so I could work,'” she said.

Dougherty added there are many stories shared on the MICA Facebook page. On April 10, just before news of the proposal was learned, a Facebook post stated, “Just a few weeks before the end of the school year, a new student joined Head Start in Marshalltown. He was an upcoming kindergartener who was non-verbal, afraid to try new things and lack[ed] self-help skills. Within those short weeks, his teachers worked quickly to get him started with speech therapy and evaluated for an IEP. By the last day of school, he was repeating lots of words, trying lots of new foods, adapting to the schedule and made lots of new friends.”

If MICA loses Head Start funding, she said there will not be any other early childhood education programs offered by the organization.

“Serving families is our mission, and we would do our best to find ways to support children and families, but it would look very different from our programs now,” Dougherty said.

Unfortunately, there are no other funding options to cover the funds necessary to provide Head Start and Early Head Start.

“State funding options that allowed us to provide additional classroom hours as the funding was braided with the federal dollars, have recently been changed or adjusted and have already affected our programs,” she said.

Dougherty urged people who want to help to follow MICA on Facebook for up-to-date information on ways to do that. She asked people to share their MICA story with them and others, but especially Congressional representatives – Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Sharing experiences with others and concerns with politicians “are two huge ways our community can help.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.