CHICAGO — Two-year-old Cassidy Reed awoke quickly from her afternoon nap. She bounded across the colorful, toy-strewn preschool to babble with four other toddlers at a miniature table.

“She just loves it,” her great-grandmother, Rochelle Simeon, said with a smile. “I have a hard time getting her out of here.”

Simeon, 72, is the adoptive mother of Cassidy, her twin brother, Brandon, and their 3-year-old sister, Kayle. All three attend the Mitzi Freidheim Englewood Child and Family Center through Head Start, the federal early education program for low-income children.

The free preschool is a lifeline to Simeon as she navigates parenthood later in life. She takes comfort in the familiar building, the teachers and the quality of care — it’s the same center her grandson attended nearly two decades ago. The employees feel like family, she said.

But the past 10 months under President Donald Trump’s administration have cast a cloud of uncertainty over Head Start. A series of federal actions threatened to dismantle the $12 billion-a-year initiative, which offers a host of social services to families with children under 5.

Simeon has been following the news with growing frustration. “I don’t think it makes any sense,” she said.

It began in April, when a leaked budget draft revealed plans to eliminate Head Start entirely. The proposal echoed a recommendation from Project 2025, a far-right policy playbook. In the same month, Trump administration officials closed five regional Head Start offices, including the Chicago branch, which had provided day-to-day support for local programming.

Later, a congressional watchdog office determined that some Head Start funds were illegally withheld through the spring. And in July, the Trump administration issued a directive that would have barred undocumented children from enrolling, though the move was ultimately blocked by a federal judge.

“We’ve had something, every month, that the administration has dropped on us,” said Lauri Morrison-Frichtl, executive director of the nonprofit Illinois Head Start Association. “It creates chaos, anxiety and fear among our workforce, among our children and families.”

Head Start has survived elimination — and its funding is secure, for now. But Chicago preschools and providers remain guarded as they navigate a period of historic political tumult. Many wonder how the program will fare under Trump’s reproach for the next three years.

And as the federal government shutdown drags on, some Illinois Head Start programs may be forced to temporarily shutter in November or December.

“I’ve been telling programs, we’re going to just survive these few years, and we’ll thrive on the other side,” Morrison-Frichtl said. “That’s been our motto.”

‘Not just a place you drop your kid off’

Head Start was created in 1965 as a key initiative of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. It serves a dual purpose: providing free child care to low-income families, and promoting children’s educational and emotional development. The program also offers social services, such as health care screenings and nutrition assistance.

“(Head Start) is not just a place that you drop your kid off,” said Terri Sabol, an associate professor of human development and social policy at Northwestern University. “It’s a place that supports the whole family, whether it’s through access to meals or support in finding housing.”

Last year, Head Start served nearly 29,000 children and pregnant women in Illinois, including nearly 14,000 children in Chicago. Roughly 1 in 4 of the city’s child care seats are tied to centers at least in part funded by the program, according to an analysis from the Early Childhood Research Alliance of Chicago. Head Start funding in Chicago totals $176.5 million each year.

“Head Start helps us keep affordable care,” said Jacqueline Turner-Hester, the executive administrator of PAW Preschool in Austin. “It offers (families) reassurance that their kids are receiving the quality care and education that they deserve.”

‘Partnering with parents’

The impact of the program is well-documented. A large body of research indicates that preschool helps children develop essential cognitive and social skills. But by reaching families 一 improving parental practices and reducing parental stress 一 Head Start also reduces child maltreatment and child welfare involvement.

Participation in Early Head Start, which specifically targets children under 3, reduces child welfare involvement through childhood by up to 22%, according to nonprofit Brightpoint. The organization serves nearly 900 children in Head Start programs across the state, including the Mitzi Freidheim Center in Englewood.

“Our job is really all about partnering with parents, figuring out what they need and meeting those needs,” said Mike Shaver, Brightpoint president and CEO.

Take Isabel Hidalgo, whose 3-year-old daughter, Lilah, is enrolled at the center. She recently lost her husband to gun violence. Grief weighs heavy on the family 一 but counselors are there for support.

“Lilah didn’t get to meet her dad, but she makes comments like, ‘I want my dad, I need my dad,’” Hidalgo said in one of the center’s classrooms. “So I brought it up to her teacher, and so we’re going to do some classes on how to explain that to her.”

Hidalgo, 30, is still adjusting to life as a single mom. Without Head Start, she couldn’t afford preschool, which allows her to work as a hotel receptionist. When federal cuts loomed, she was concerned she might have to quit her job or cut back on her hours.

“I was worried, like, is this going to be another struggle for myself?” Hidalgo said. “I might not have that income coming into my household, even the basics, like rent, bills, food.”

Under the Trump administration, other public benefit programs have faced the chopping block. The president signed sweeping legislation this summer that cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program access, or SNAP, for an estimated 360,000 Illinoisans. Another 330,000 could lose access to Medicaid over the next decade.

Teacher Emma Cobbins worries those cuts will act as an added stressor to Head Start families. She leads a classroom of eight 2- and 3-year-olds at the Mitzi Freidheim Center. She’s worked with the same toddlers since they were infants.

“I feel sad, in a way, because we have parents that came so far,” Cobbins said. “Now, they worry about this, and worry about how they gonna keep child care. It’s like, what do we do?”

Cobbins expertly wrangled the toddlers in the tiny classroom for snack time. She addressed each child by name as she passed out fruit cuts 一 including Cassidy, Simeon’s great-granddaughter. She keeps track of each child’s milestones: first words, drawings, movements. She calls some of them “baby.”

“I feel like once the parents drop them off to us, they are our kids,” Cobbins said, by way of explanation. “We know it’s their kids, but when they drop off to us, I want to make sure they get the best that we can give them.”

Bipartisan support

Head Start once enjoyed bipartisan support. After Johnson, successive presidents lauded its success and worked to expand its reach. President Jimmy Carter nearly doubled its budget over his four-year term. President Ronald Reagan created Head Start Awareness Month (October), and President Bill Clinton’s administration oversaw a landmark bill expanding services to infants and toddlers.

In the past few years, the political picture has become more mixed. A handful of studies have found that the Head Start’s initial academic gains faded in elementary school. Some Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about the program’s cost-effectiveness. But prior to Trump’s second term, few had considered eliminating it altogether.

“To say that that program hasn’t been effective is just not what decades of research has demonstrated,” said Brightpoint CEO Shaver, who pointed to Head Start’s wraparound services.

The ongoing federal government shutdown is the latest jolt to the program. Since Oct. 1, Congressional Democrats and Republicans have remained deadlocked over budget bills. Six Head Start programs serving 6,525 children are operating without federal funds due to the timing of their fiscal years, the National Head Start Association said last week. Another 134 programs are at risk for closure Nov. 1.

In Illinois, only one program faces the Nov. 1 deadline, but another three will have a funding lapse if the shutdown doesn’t resolve by December, according to the state’s Head Start Association.

“The longer this goes, the worse it is, and the harder it is for parents and children,” Morrison-Frichtl said. “It’s just one thing after another. … It never ends.”

At the Mitzi Freidheim Center, staff members carry on. Toddlers still settled in tiny cots for their naps. They danced to cleanup songs and sat in lopsided circles during story time. And just past 3 p.m., parents trickled back through the doors for pickup.

“I think we just try to block out the noise,” said Cindy Vega, Brightpoint’s director of wellness and inclusion. “It’s business as usual.”

Great-grandmother Simeon smiled as she spotted Cassidy in her classroom. They held hands as they walked down the halls.

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