Raleigh-based East Coast Migrant Head Start Program says it will furlough 258 workers starting Nov. 1 if the federal government shutdown continues. The organization, which provided educational services to about 3,000 children of migrant workers in 10 states last year, says that the suspension of Head Start grant payments from the federal government will lead it to temporarily shut down operations.
The layoff will include the nonprofit’s entire staff, except for a limited number of people who payroll and employee benefits and maintain communication with the Office of Head Start and other funding agencies.
East Coast Migrant Head Start has asked the federal Administration for Children and Families to allow it to continue operations for the first two weeks in November, but hasn’t heard back.
“The layoff is temporary, and (East Coast Migrant Head Start Program) intends to resume operations immediately upon the restoration of federal funding. However, the precise return-to-work date is not yet known, according to a statement included with a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed with the state Department of Commerce.
The layoffs will affect employees in its regional and administrative offices. Those layoffs include 55 people at its corporate office in Raleigh and 203 others spread across 11 other North Carolina offices. Those cities include Angier, Bailey, Boonville, Clayton, Dunn, Faison, Fountain, Hendersonville, Rocky Point, Wilson and Whiteville.
Administrators with East Coast Migrant Head Start did not return telephone and email messages.
East Coast Migrant Head Start began in 1974 through a grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It operates 43 education campuses and four childcare homes. It provides early childhood education services to children from birth to age 5 whose parents work in agriculture.
The group had $83.4 million in revenue, including $83 million in government grants, in 2023, the most recent year it filed a report with the Internal Revenue Service. It had $79.2 million in expenses, including $50.9 million in salaries, with 13 employees compensated more than $100,000 in that year. It had a total of 1,275 employees, according to the report.