UPDATE
(10/27/2025)
On Monday, the Children’s Services Council of Leon County announced it's allocating $300k to help keep operations at four Head Start locations as the government shutdown continues.
Below are the following sites:
- Mabry Street Family & Child Enrichment Center
- Head Start at Pineview
- Louise B. Royal Head Start (Duval Street)
- South City Head Start Center (South Meridian Street)
On Sunday, Capital Area Community Action Agency Head Start announced in a Facebook post that the programs would resume on Tuesday. Interim Chief Executive Officer Nina Singleton Self said,
"With CSC Leon’s support,” she said, “we can continue serving our children without disruption and maintain the quality programming our community relies upon.”
The press release says funding from CSC Leon will be used to ensure staffing and meals remain in place at Leon County sites for the next month. LCS Superintendent Rocky Hanna said in part,
“We know that the learning our children receive when they are very young exponentially improves their success in school and life. Whatever we, as a community, can do to continue their learning is absolutely the right thing to do.”
To read the full release, click here.
(10/26/2025):
After originally announcing plans to close five Head Start centers in Leon County due to the government shutdown, Capital Area Community Action Agency Head Start announced the programs would resume on Tuesday. They made the announcement through a Facebook post Sunday night.
The post says all locations will reopen for families from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There will be no extended day for now.
Darrel James with Capital Area Head Start and a spokesperson for Leon County Schools said they would give more information about the reopening Monday morning. But they decided to make this announcement to give parents enough notice.
The federal government shutdown brought funding delays for local Head Start programs, forcing them to temporarily close until they could get the necessary funds. At this point, it's unclear what allowed the programs to resume.
The Tallahassee Urban League, childcare groups, and churches were working to provide a separate space for the children until the Head Start centers could reopen.
We will continue to provide updates on air and online as we learn more.
Original:
Tallahassee community groups have stepped in to provide safe childcare for nearly 400 children after Head Start centers closed due to the government shutdown.
- Urban League partnered with certified organizations to ensure safety and maintain typical Head Start hours.
- Local partners, including Second Harvest and area churches, are providing food and support to families in need.
- Watch the video to see how the community is keeping kids safe and cared for during Head Start closures.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Because of the government shutdown, Head Start programs in our area were forced to close their doors Friday.
Since then, Urban League and its partners have been working to make sure children's routines aren't disrupted and that they have a safe place to go Monday morning.
I'm Lyric Sloan, in the Northwest Tallahassee neighborhood, with what families can expect as the new week begins.
Funding has already run out for five Head Start programs here in Tallahassee, and no solution is in sight as the shutdown continues.
Community members answering the call for help.
Darren Mason, President of Tallahassee Urban League Junior Professionals, said he knows firsthand how critical childcare can be.
"As a proud father of two who are now 12 and 10, I remember those times of trying to find childcare on a daily basis. Especially if there is any emergency, just the stress of trying to find that and still work, knowing that those concerns we want to make sure those children have somewhere to go," Mason said.
At first, some Urban League partners hoping to care for children weren't properly registered. Once Urban League was made aware of this, Curtis Taylor, Urban League President and CEO, said they moved fast to find organizations that meet the safety requirements.
"We made that shift once we got more under the thick of this thing and realized we can't just have anyone out there trying to do we thank you, but what you need to do is just try and support us by having food available because we want to have kids at those certified locations so that we don't have any problems down the road."
Mason emphasized, "We're here as long as we need to be."
To make that happen, the Urban League has teamed up with partners like Second Harvest, Bethel Baptist Church, and Anderson Chapel, working to maintain childcare hours similar to local Head Start programs, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
"At the end of the day, I think we're going to be okay. The main thing is making sure our kids have a safe place to go," Taylor said.
The closure of all five Head Start centers in Tallahassee was set to impact nearly 400 children across Leon County. But thanks to community efforts, space has now been set aside at All of my Children, and Angel Child care, providing support for over 200 children.
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