Reauthorization of Head Start programs

MOSES LAKE — Reauthorization of Head Start programs — a process conducted every five years by Congress to evaluate the program — is nothing new to Denise Schmidt, who has worked in the program for several years.

But what has become more and more unsettling for Schmidt, the home based services coordinator for Family Services of Grant County, the organization through which Head Start is offered, is the demands reauthorization places on Head Start programs that hold it back from being competitive in the grant application process.

Similar to funding problems many public schools are facing, Head Start administrators like Schmidt wonder how many more standards the state and federal government will expect of the program if funding continues to decrease, which could leave many low income children in Grant County behind.

"We're asking our people to do more and more work without any funding," said Schmidt.

The FSGC Head Start program currently serves more than 200 children in Grant County, about half of which are nearing kindergarten and will be expected to pass standardized tests before starting school at the elementary level.

With close to $2 million in grant money, some of which FSGC has to reapply for by Aug. 1 of 2005, in conjunction with reauthorization and approximately 13 federal reviewers who were recently on site to look at FSGC's financial management and program offerings, Schmidt and others worry about remaining competitive for those grants as reauthorization may change current laws for Head Start programs, especially as several have come under attack for alleged financial mismanagement.

"It's not that we mind the oversight or people being able to tell if we're doing a good job teaching, but it's taking money away from services to children," said Schmidt. "It's just not feasible to recompete; there's a learning curve that goes with Head Start and when would you ever get stabilized to provide good services?"

On the other hand, Schmidt wants Basin families and communities to know FSGC Head Start program is spending its money wisely.

"Here in Grant County we take it really seriously that these are tax payer dollars," said Schmidt.

But this is nothing new for FSGC Head Start program, which became a permanent grantee in 1996, meaning that it then became officially recognized as a Head Start program.

In conjunction with on site federal reviewers, FSGC Head Start also conducts an annual internal analysis of its financial management and programs which are overseen by community volunteers and board members.

Dave Campbell, treasurer for FSGC, recently finished the annual report and said he doesn't believe it is a common practice to have an internal team look at financial management, but that it is crucial to staying informed so that when federal reviewers come in, the organization is more prepared.

"It's really there to help the organizations be stronger and more viable in the communities," said Campbell, who reported that FSGC has a strong accountability system in place to prevent embezzlement of funds.

Campbell said much larger organizations tend to be looked at with more scrutiny as they have more employees and payroll accounts. "I think anybody could look at our wage and benefit schedule here and not be shocked," he said.

As the federal government began looking more into for-profit organizations and finding mismanagement of large sums of money, Campbell said the same thing is now happening to nonprofit agencies.

"The reason it's important is because if the federal review team comes in and finds we're deficient, they hold the board accountable," said Schmidt.

Parent Lynette Oliver, now the board chair for FSGC, whose son Terrin has cerebral palsy and mental retardation, has come a long way since he first began the program at age 3.

Without FSGC Head Start, Oliver said she doesn't believe her son would be able to feed himself, ride the bus with other children or do a myriad of other basic skills, which is why Oliver is concerned about the federal Reauthorization and proposals for block grants.

"Head Start would take my son when other preschools would not," said Oliver.

The block grants Oliver referred to would give state and or counties the authority to combine funding of organizations and then allocate them as needed.