Another victim.

The federal government shut down Kentucky's headstart programs.

These offer low income families child care free of charge, but the yearly federal grants these programs rely on aren't coming.

Our June Lefler visited one center that is going into debt just to keep its doors open until the shutdown ends.

It's a happy Halloween at this head start in Lebanon, Kentucky.

And then we're going to do search.

We search for the wand.

It's storytime for these three, four, and five years.

Headstart is a federally funded preschool program that is all across the country.

This is amazing opportunity to help families in need.

Access free preschool.

High quality preschool education.

They get all nutrition taken care of.

They get all therapy services.

Taking care of the social emotional learning all happens in this space.

This is just one of many classrooms now operating without federal funding down on Friday, which since the Office of Head Start is furloughed due to the federal shutdown, they're not processing grant applications, not administering funds.

And so as of October 31st, we will no longer have access to federal funds to to operate our programs here for Central Kentucky Community Action Council.

The council, which serves 400 headstart kids across six central Kentucky counties, expected $8 million on November 1st.

But now, on Monday, our Board of directors and our Head Start Policy Council voted unanimously to allow us to pursue a line of credit alone to maintain operations.

We are very fortunate that people's Bank here in Lebanon was willing to provide us this loan, because it doesn't come without risk.

The $1 million loan would likely be reimbursed at the end of the federal shutdown, but all interest falls on this regional nonprofit.

Give us about three weeks of operating time.

And so we are planning to be able to open up and operate until November 21st, at which point, if the government has not reopened or if, we haven't gotten a funding letter or some other source of funding, we would probably have to cease operations right before the Thanksgiving holiday.

And not every program is in this kind of bind yet.

The federal government staggers headstart grants throughout the year for regional programs that serve 2500 kids now have lapsed funding, but all have found contingency funds to operate a little while longer.

Local school boards are partnering.

We're seeing local governments to get involved.

I think folks are trying to find out what's the right recipe just to keep taking care of our kids.

But if the shutdown lingers, it could eventually impact the more than 16,000 Head Start kids across Kentucky.

Our headstart programs throughout the state are typically our highest quality.

We have a 1 to 5 star rating system in the state of Kentucky for child care programs, and our head starts are consistently four and five star programs.

Head start is both pervasive and all inclusive, says this child care expert.

Unlike a private child care facility that may just serve children, and focus on early education and care while parents are away, Head Start has extensive wraparound services.

And there's a huge effort on making sure that families get the medical care that they need.

So if, a child has not had all of their immunizations or medical care up and well checks up to a certain point, headstart will partner with local community agencies to make sure the children get those supports.

Dental busses may come to the area, and they'll make sure that children get teeth cleanings and even, get cavities good at a young age.

So when we talk about a potential loss of head Start, we're talking about early care and education.

We're talking about food and basic needs.

We're talking about health care, mental health care and disability supports.

Sarah Vanover says in half of Kentucky counties, there aren't enough child care slots for kids that need it.

Any disruption to Head Start would only exacerbate Kentucky's child care deserts for Kentucky addiction.

I'm Jane Leffler, thank you so much.

June Headstart celebrated its 60th anniversary with festivities at the state Capitol earlier this month.