Details Emerge On Shutdown Of Area Head Start Centers

WASHINGTON DC (WCBI) More details tonight on why Head Start Centers in Attala, Webster, Choctaw, Carroll , Montgomery and Holmes Counties were abruptly closed Tuesday evening.  This afternoon. The national Office of Head Start issued a statement detailing the reasons behind Central Mississippi Incorporated being suspended and the steps needed to reinstate local governance of the centers  Below is that statement

OHS conducted a monitoring review of CMI in response to numerous complaints we have received in writing from current and former staff.  The monitoring team found serious fiscal, governance and human resource issues.  These deficiencies threaten the health and safety of the children and staff, and pose a threat to the integrity of federal funds.  The monitoring report is attached.

As a result, we summarily suspended all federal financial assistance for Head Start programming to this grantee, for 30 days.  We will conduct a follow-up review to validate CMI’s compliance with the Head Start Act and regulations. If the agency has corrected the deficiencies within the specified time frame, CMI will resume operating the program.

OHS is committed to the communities in which a Head Start grant has been awarded, and strives to ensure services continue with minimal disruption to children and families. In order to ensure this, OHS has deployed Community Development Institute Head Start (CDI HS) as an interim provider of Head Start services to the service areas served by CMI.

OHS will conduct a follow-up review to validate CMI’s compliance with the Head Start Act and regulations. If CMI has corrected the deficiencies within the 30 days given for correction, CMI will resume operating the Head Start program.

If OHS determines the agency has failed to correct the deficiencies within the specified time frame, we will issue a letter stating our intent to terminate the Head Start designation of the agency.  In that case, CDI HS will provide Head Start services until the formal competitive process for finding a replacement grantee can be completed, and a Head Start grant is awarded to a new agency.

Head Start grants are awarded directly to public or private non-profit organizations, including school districts, within a community through a competitive process.  To get a federal grant, agencies must apply through a competitive application in response to an open funding opportunity.  Applications are evaluated by a panel of independent early childhood professionals to determine their ability to deliver on Head Start’s goal of providing high-quality early childhood services to the nation’s most vulnerable infants, toddlers and preschool children.  This process helps ensure that the best available agency is selected to provide Head Start and Early Head Start services.