Preschoolers at the Northern Panhandle Head Start in Marshall County color Halloween pictures on Friday. (Photo Provided)

WHEELING — While the ongoing federal government shutdown will affect some Head Start programs around the country, those in the Ohio Valley are fully funded and won’t be impacted by the turmoil in Washington, D.C.

The Head Start program is a national program created in 1965 that provides developmental and social services to low-income preschool children from birth to age 5 and their families. Starting Saturday, the government shutdown also will cause funding for 134 Head Start programs in 41 states to cease. In several states, Head Start programs already are closing their doors, and more than 65,000 children could be affected.

The Head Start programs for the Northern Panhandle and Belmont County are not in that group.

Jackie Bell, executive director of Northern Panhandle Head Start, said Friday the shutdown currently is not affecting her programming.

“The government shutdown is not impacting service delivery for children and families enrolled in Northern Panhandle Head Start,” she said. “Our doors are open, and children and families enrolled in our program continue to receive services.”

She noted the agency does have a contingency plan if necessary.

“We have access to our federal funds; therefore, we do not need to use our contingency plan,” Bell said.

“The shutdown would have to continue into July 2026 for our program to be affected,” she added. “Of course, we are hopeful that a resolution is reached quickly because if the shutdown extends past Nov. 1, 140 Head Start programs serving 65,152 children and families across the nation will lose access to federal funding and might have to close their doors.”

Bell said the Northern Panhandle Head Start serves 457 children in its five-county region. Programs include Early Head Start, Head Start and Child Care Partnership programs. There are also 75 children in the Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker program.

“Northern Panhandle Head Start utilizes federal funding to operate our Head Start, Early Head Start, and Child Care Partnership programs,” Bell said. “In addition, we receive supplemental funding through our collaboration with the county Board of Education to operate our Pre-K programs, as well as state funds to support our MIHOW program.”

Belmont County Head Start director Fran Steed wants to assure residents that Belmont County Head Start will not be affected by the shut down for the foreseeable future.

Steed said that her program has a five-year non-competitive federally funded grant that renews annually on March 1.

She added that each March 1, the program receives $2 million from the grant to fund the operations, personnel, and anything else the program needs to pay for.

In addition to the Head Start grant, the program also receives funds from private donors within the community.

“We’re guaranteed the funding from the grant, but we have some private donors that we can utilize. But the program is solely funded by that grant,” Steed said.

Steed said that although Head Start will not be affected directly she is anticipating that the government shutdown will directly affect the clientele it provides services for who receive SNAP benefits.

She added that she believes SNAP recipients not receiving their benefits in November will be the biggest issue for the families she serves. SNAP benefits were set to be issued on November 1 but with the shutdown, it was announced that the benefits will not be distributed until the shutdown ends.

In a way to alleviate the burden for the residents Head Start provides services for, Steed has begun preparing to provide groceries for families on a case by case basis.

“We’re trying to do everything we can to try to get ahead of that and be supportive. But it’s a mess,” Steed said. “We’ll either provide gift cards for them to buy food, or we’re working on some plans to kind of come up with a stockpile of groceries at our office.”

She said that the stockpile of groceries would be helpful if someone is in need of groceries when the office is closed.

“That way we can make sure that we get them some food regardless of the day,” Steed said.

She added that the Community Action Commission has longstanding partnerships with the Belmont County Department of Job and Family Services, Belmont County Health Department and local food banks.

Steed said that the multiple community agencies have been continuing to work together to try and tackle the issues their clientele will be facing amidst the shutdown.

“We’re here to support our clientele however we possibly can and we’ll all get through this together,” Steed said.