Sequester Impact: Head Start Facility Closing, Job Cuts Coming Friday

Just over a month after Youth In Need confirmed Tuesday that it would close a St. Charles Head Start Center as part of reductions taking effect Friday.

The move is the result of the so-called "sequester" process, which kicked in mandatory 5 percent cuts in federal funding earlier this year after congressional leaders and the Obama administration failed to reach a long-term budget agreement.

In addition to the facility on Campus Drive in St. Charles, Youth In Need will lose 65 placements for kids in Head Start, a program that provides education and health services for low-income families. About half the placements lost will come out of Grace Hill, a south St. Louis City organization where Youth In Need runs a home-based Head Start program. A total of 1077 children will still receive those services from the agencies.

Also spread between Grace Hill and Youth In Need are the loss of 18 full-time equivalent jobs in Head Start and administrative positions.

Pat Holterman-Hommes, Youth in Need's President and CEO said the agency tried to find cuts that were one time options, such as not offering salary increases, as well as reductions that could be sustained over time. "I expeect that these cuts will continue to FY '14," she said. 

The facility closure came on short notice and Holterman-Hommes praised the flexibility of the landlord for the building, who she said would work with the agency if the cuts were restored.

Youth In Need will also lose a portion of funding for transitional services provided to runaway children and homeless teenagers. Holterman-Hommes said those cuts would be felt later because of different federal grant cycles, but would not result in decreased services for those programs.