'A lot of damage being done': Mass HHS layoffs shut down regional office that oversees Wisconsin's Head Start programs

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The regional office that oversees Wisconsin's 279 Head Start locations was shut down this week as part of mass layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services.

It's another blow for Wisconsin's Head Start programs that are trying to maintain early-childhood education for thousands of low-income children throughout the state.

Five regional offices were shut down. 22 states and five US territories are impacted.

Providers say the cuts are making it more difficult for them to serve children and families.

Jennie Mauer is the executive director of the Wisconsin Head Start Association. She said, "Trust is at an all-time low and fear and anxiety is at an all-time high."

Overnight -and with little warning- a vital lifeline was severed for Wisconsin's Head Start programs.

Five of 10 regional offices were shut down this week as the Department of Health and Human Services announced 10,000 layoffs. The Chicago office serving Wisconsin and five other states was among them.

Mauer likened the situation to a leaning Jenga tower. "Closing these offices is really pulling out a foundational block."

Head Start serves more than 16,000 low-income Wisconsin children.

The regional offices provide grant oversight, distribute funds, provide training, and program monitoring.

Mauer acknowledged there are ways to be more efficient, "But you don't do that by shutting off the lights and shutting the door. You do that with planning, with care, and with thought."

Dr. Timothy Nolan has run a Waukesha County Head Start provider for 57 years.

He said in that time he's worked with federal workers who carefully tried to provide quality resources.

But he said it's different now. "It doesn't feel as though it's about good intent," Dr. Nolan said.

Dr. Nolan said the people he worked with just days ago were already overworked, and dramatically reducing the workforce further puts programs at risk. Dr. Nolan said, "I think the motivations are different. It's about reducing expenditure. At some point, at whatever cost."

Just days ago, Dr. Nolan submitted his organization's application for a continuation grant for the next fiscal year.

He said it was a great proposal and turned in on time, but "We don't know who's going to read it. Because it used to go to our program officer who was assigned to us."

He said it's like looking into an abyss because there was no point of contact Thursday morning. No one was in the office to answer a phone.

HHS says the services will be absorbed elsewhere. But on Thursday came more uncertainty. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told reporters in Virginia that some of the 10,000 layoffs were a mistake.

He said, "There were a number of instances where study that should have not have been cut, were cut. We're reinstating them."

It's not clear which programs will be reinstated or if the Head Start offices are among them, but livelihoods hang in the balance.

Dr. Nolan said, "We're trying to make massive cuts. In the process, we're damaging people's lives and careers."

Dr. Nolan said Head Start has always enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress, but right now, the layoffs and other changes are being decided outside of Congress.

The layoffs were made to slash inefficiencies, but Mauer is hearing those laid off will be paid through June to not work. She said, "That doesn't sound efficient to me."