All of the kids served by the Community Development Institute Head Start in Newark will be accounted for.
File photo of a La Casa de Don Pedro early childhood program. (George McNish | The Star-Ledger)NEWARK -- The operational switch of preschool and other early childhood programs from a temporary federal agency to a city nonprofit will not affect the several hundred kids who attend the program, but the futures of the 237 employees who work in the system are not so clear.
The Department of Labor released a WARN notice earlier this month to let the 237 employees of the Community Development Institute Head Start in Newark that it will shutter operations on Aug. 31. The closure was planned, Head Start officials say. The agency was only opened to run the program until a local agency could take over on a permanent basis. Newark nonprofit La Casa de Don Pedro, which already runs its own early childhood programs, has been awarded a $6.9 million federal grant to expand its pre-K program to include Head Start, a federally-funded provider of free preschool options in low-income areas.
As part of the switch, La Casa Executive Director Raymond Ocasio said the agency will take on about 405 new preschool children beginning this September, and 144 infants and toddlers in a program beginning in January 2017. It will also take on classes for about 24 prenatal parents.
"We are basically going to step into (the CDI's) shoes, and move forward from there," Ocasio said. La Casa, which will re-open in a number of Newark's existing Head Start locations, will also integrate its own practices and Newark Public School's Creative Curriculum into the Head Start classes, he said.
Parents wait 2 days in line for pre-K registration
Though all of the children who were being served by the federal agency will be accounted for, the impact of the switch for employees remains to be seen.
"This (switch over) process... supports qualified employees being available for hire by the newly-awarded grantee," said Patrick Fisher, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families.
"The transition was planned for this summer to minimize the impact on children and families, as well as staff."
Ocasio said La Casa is currently vetting employees, and looking to hire from the Head Start pool, and beyond that. He said he is unsure how many positions will be filled in the new program.
But, all new staffers, he said, will work to combine both groups' histories of "innovative" education techniques.
"With Head Start, we will be able to offer a richer program for our kids and engage parents in a stronger way," he said.
"We are excited to take this on."
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.