Hundreds of children affected by sudden Head Start closures in Central Washington

Stacked chairs, empty classrooms and educational materials piled on shelves. That is the scene left at Inspire Development Center’s Sunnyside II in Central Washington.

“I come every morning to check that everything is okay. The children arrive, they hug me. We will feel their absence here,” Arminda Caballero, the Sunnyside II center manager, said in Spanish.

Empty shelves of Head Start students at a Sunnyside early childhood center.
(Credit: Johanna Bejarano / NWPB)

The Sunnyside location is one of the Inspire Development Centers that closed its Early Head Start and Head Start programs this week, after federal funding did not arrive.

Inspire receives federal funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. But now the organization said it cannot operate without the funds.

“There’s a delay of some sort. We’re not sure exactly what’s causing the delay, and we have not seen the award for the balance of funds. We come to a point where we must stop services because we can’t make payments to employees,” Inspire’s CEO, Jorge Castillo, said.

Inspire’s headquarters are in Sunnyside, Washington. The organization offers early childhood education programs to low-income children through various centers in Central Washington.

The program’s suspension affected seven Inspire centers in the region, leaving more than 400 children without educational support after federal funding never arrived.

The Administration for Children and Families handles Head Start media inquiries. The agency did not respond to a request for comment.

Grandview, Granger, Sunnyside, Mabton, Othello and Parker Heights are among the Central Washington communities where some centers are affected.

Castillo said more than 100 impacted children were in the Early Head Start program and more than 300 in Head Start. Inspire mainly serves rural communities.

“We’re going on 42 years in July, and it has primarily focused on serving families who work in agriculture. There is a high concentration of workers that support the [agricultural] industry,” Castillo said.

Inspire Development Centers Sunnyside II closed suddenly. (Credit: Johanna Bejarano / NWPB)

Marina Garza, Inspire’s director of programs, said Head Start provides comprehensive services for families in the region. Head Start programs offer education, mental health, support for children with disabilities, health care assistance and nutrition. Some services are provided at home.

Garza said not having the program would tremendously impact these rural communities.

“They wouldn’t have access to child care. There are communities that don’t have a lot of preschool or childcare programs for younger children,” Garza said.

She said the Head Start program goes beyond child care; it is also early intervention for children from birth until they transition to school.

According to the organization’s website, the 25 Inspire centers are in Yakima, Grant, Adams, Benton, Walla Walla, Skagit, Whatcom and Franklin counties. They offer different childhood education programs, some financed with federal funds and others with state funds. These programs serve more than 3,000 children.

Caballero, who has worked with Inspire for over 30 years, said nothing like this has happened before.

“It’s sad, and you feel it in your heart. Then I must break the news to the staff. But I tell them, we’re going to get through this and stay positive,” Caballero said.

She said it impacts parents who must find child care for their children at the last minute. Like Griselda Valenzuela whose son has been in Early Head Start for almost three years.

Griselda Valenzuela holds her child on their last day at Inspire Development Center Sunnyside II. (Credit: Johanna Bejarano / NWPB)

“It feels like that just kind of got ripped out of from under us and we’re kind of like, what’s gonna happen,” she said.

Valenzuela said this was the only suitable place she found to get the necessary support for educating her child with special needs.

“Now that it’s being cut, what’s gonna happen with the development of my son? Where is this gonna go? How am I gonna get him the help he needs?” she asked. “He’s not gonna get that at a traditional day care. He needs people certified, people who have worked with these kids to get him there.”

She said the Early Head Start program had given her direction on how to help her son cognitively and help him interact with others.

“The greatest thing that I liked was the play and learns that he got to play with all sorts of kids, typical development, or from babies with Down syndrome, or anybody with any disability,” Valenzuela said.

Ariel Chipres, a single father, was also surprised by the news of the program’s suspension. His two children had been in Inspire since October.

He said he must look for other ways to provide day care for his kids. Still, he said, he is fortunate to have a support system that other families may not have.

“Now that this is happening, my mother would take over that part, as taking care of them,” Chipres said. “It’s not the same as for them to be learning compared to home, because when I go home, they surprise me with things they’ve learned at school.”

Inspire Development Centers have served communities for over 40 years in Central Washington.
(Credit: Johanna Bejarano / NWPB)

Chipres said people in charge of the funding should reconsider decisions.

“The funding is well used. It’s not abused. The staff members are doing a great job. They’re very dedicated, and whatever funding they receive, it is used in a very well manner,” Chipres said.

Valenzuela also expressed her frustrations.

“ I just really feel like whoever’s making these cuts really needs to consider who it’s hurting. And if we’re not funding the students that need the help, then where is that money going,” Valenzuela said.

The lack of funding led to the dismissal of more than 70 of Inspire’s staff members. Valenzuela’s son’s Head Start home visitor, Esperanza Gonzalez, is among them.

“[I passed] hours during the weekend without sleep, thinking about what will happen, what I will do, especially when you are the person who provides for the family,” Gonzalez said. “They are like mixed emotions because it is tough to think and give the news to my children, and at the same time tell them: ‘Don’t worry.'”

Julie Jones, human resources director with Inspire, said the organization would typically have been talking with Head Start’s Region 10 office in Seattle, but it closed suddenly the first week of April.

“This administration believes we cannot afford to help families get preschool or help kids get basic health services, but we can afford trillions of dollars more in tax breaks for billionaires. It’s offensive and just plain wrong,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in a statement. 

Many children, parents, educators and administrators hope the funds return.

“I think the story here is played out in our centers every day and every year. The old saying: ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ inspires the village,” Castillo said.