ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Head Start programs across the nation and the families they serve are sitting in limbo right now as they wait to see if federal funding will be frozen.

The new worry follows massive cuts in staff and regional offices by the Department of Health and Human Services.

KOB 4 spent the day talking with Youth Development, Inc. leaders about the new concerns.

“Head Start is health, their health screenings, their vision screenings. We do family assessments, we connect with, we do home visits. So, it’s really a holistic approach focused on the early childhood of children,” said Robert Chavez, CEO of Youth Development, Inc. 

Chavez says Head Start programs in New Mexico receive over $80 million a year from the federal government, but there’s a chance that funding might be in jeopardy.

“What we know that was leaked is that Head Start was not in the President’s budget, but that’s not definite. But we have to take precautions, and we have to advocate,” said Chavez. 

Advocacy often starts with research, something Albuquerque Public Schools has already done.

“Our children fared better in not only their early childhood development and school readiness, but we had less children that were in special education, we had less children that were referred for behavioral problems,” said Debra Baca, YDI vice president of Early Childhood Education. 

For Antoinette Baldonado, she has watched those research results become reality for her granddaughter.

“Helping her with her name, writing her name. Learning her ABC’s, just you know identifying numbers and shapes and colors,” said Baldonado. 

Because Head Start also prioritizes health screenings, the program is not just life changing.

“We had a child in our classroom that was walking and, for no explained reason, would fall. And so we referred to their pediatrician our observations and that child had a brain tumor. It was life-saving,” Baca said.

“We should be growing Head Start services, not freezing or reducing them because we want more prevention and intervention versus treatment and incarceration,” said Chavez.

Despite the federal funding concerns, Head Start is moving full steam ahead and is currently accepting new student applications for their fall term. Folks can find that information online.