Hunger isn’t the only worry for Ohio’s youngest residents affected by the federal government shutdown. Those who attend Head Start preschool and Early Head Start programs could soon see another disruption.

Beginning with the lapse in grant funding Nov. 1, 140 programs across the country were affected, according to the Ohio Capital Journal. Seven programs in Ohio were affected — those in Scioto and Highland counties have already had to shut down.

Last year, there were 59 total Head Start programs in the Buckeye State, with more than 33,000 children enrolled. Of those served, 1,741 were in foster care and 1,660 were experiencing homelessness. The biggest age group among those enrolled is 4-year-olds.

The shutdown represents “a significant loss for Ohio’s children and workforce, and highlight(s) the profound impact of these shutdowns on the community,” Jodi Norton Trimble, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, told the Capital Journal.

It’s a problem for the workforce on two fronts. First are the teachers, aides and staff working for the Head Start programs themselves; but second are the parents who must now adjust their child-care planning.

“Parents need to work and go to school knowing their children are safe, learning and cared for,” Coshocton County Head Start Executive Director Susan Craddock told the Capital Journal last month. “But we can’t sustain this without federal and local support.”

Consider that children enrolled in Head Start’s early and preschool programs may be part of families also affected by the disappearance of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other federal support.

We are — nearly five years out — dealing with the lingering effects of students whose lives were turned upside down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While we must pray this federal government shutdown does not last as long as the shutdowns that changed us forever, back in 2020, it has certainly lasted long enough that communities must now consider how children and families might be affected down the road.

“This shutdown is pulling the rug out from under working families,” Julie Stone, executive director of the Ohio Head Start Association, told the Capital Journal. “Parents are losing child care, teachers are losing paychecks and children are losing the stable, nurturing environments that help them thrive. These are real people with real consequences — and Ohio’s youngest citizens deserve better.”

Many of them are sinking rapidly into food insecurity and outright hunger, while their ability to access and afford health care also remains in question.

They deserve better. We all do.

But we are at the mercy of those in Washington, D.C., who care so little that they would rather play political games than fulfill their responsibility to us. Ohioans for whom that chilling realization has hit home will remember. And, when the time comes, we will vote — for better.