Several Head Start grantees still cannot access funds more than a week after botched federal funding freeze

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Several Wisconsin Head Start programs still cannot access federal funds that help provide care for children.

The executive director of the Wisconsin Head Start Association confirmed the challenges Wednesday, Feb. 5, more than a week after the White House said the programs would not be impacted.

And even those that have gotten some of their money are still coping with damaging long-term consequences.

The federal government's botched funding freeze has shaken trust as uncertainty runs rampant.

Thousands of Wisconsin families -and millions across the country- rely on Head Start care.

Service providers are somehow finding ways to keep their doors open despite the lack of support from the federal government.

Jennie Mauer, the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Head Start Association, told us, "It has to be figured out. This can't be how this works."

Mauer says it is not sustainable, and many of the state's providers can't hold out much longer. "They're scrambling. They're doing things like talking to community banks and pulling lines of credit."

The industry's financial margins are razor thin. So are the margins of error.

So when the federal government only approved half of Milwaukee's Penfield Children's Center's money, they started to look into liquidating assets in order to pay their bills.

Polina Makievsky is the president & CEO at Penfield. She told us, "Right now, that level of uncertainty is quite elevated."

Until last Monday, everything worked.

For years, Makievsky said their entire amount was approved within 24 hours. But this delay is forcing Penfield to find ways to keep providing critical care to their 1700 families.

And the community's needs continue to be urgent.

"That doesn't slow down," Makievsky said. "And if anything, it's probably going to be accelerated."

She said children need safe places to go, staff need jobs, and parents and families need to go to work.

Makievsky said a lot of their families are already overtaxed with special needs and economic hardships.

So she's trying to keep her staff focused on their mission of supporting families. "But we also don't want to ignore the fact that there's a lot of stress, a heightened level of uncertainty."

It's already a challenge for Head Start providers across the state to care for more than 16,000 children.

Mauer said on top of the usual challenges, "They're also dealing with this nonsense. This is heartbreaking. This is chaotic."

For years, when the funding system worked well, it stayed in the shadows.

But, Makievsky told us, "When it's at risk and taken away, that's when people realize how much we all benefit from human services."

The number of providers who could not access their money has slowly decreased, but their trust has been severely impacted.

Mauer said, "I'm very concerned about next week."

For years, when things were running smoothly, grantees would draw down their funds quarterly, knowing the money would be there.

But now, several say they will try to submit for payment every month, or even more frequently.

And even then they're unsure if they'll get what they've been promised. Makievsky said, "We're not leaving anything to chance anymore."