We’re deeply concerned about the growing consequences of the government shutdown for children and families in Texas and across the country.
About 750,000 federal government employees — many of them parents — have already gone a month without pay. The Washington Post recently described how one of them is struggling to pay her bills:
“She said she has already sold everything she could find in her house, including two old iPhones, and started a GoFundMe to help cover her expenses. She had hoped to drive for DoorDash to supplement her income, but her car was repossessed after she missed a loan deadline because of the shutdown.”
In Texas, one of the 130,000 federal civilian employees in the state told the Texas Tribune that the lost paycheck forced her to cancel her daughter’s tutoring and after-school care.
The shutdown is also undermining programs such as Head Start, resulting in early learning centers closing their services. Some Head Start providers were scheduled to receive their regular federal funding on November 1st. Since that funding did not come through, six child care centers in Hays and Caldwell counties closed down on Friday, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Parents are left scrambling to find alternative child care options so they can go to work, and kids are missing out on the early learning experiences and nutritious meals they usually get through Head Start. Other providers who missed the November 1st payment are either closing down or trying to find strategies for keeping their doors open while they wait for the shutdown to end.
Across the country, SNAP food assistance is also on thin ice. About 3.5 million Texans are enrolled in SNAP. Half of them are children. The shutdown is putting SNAP November benefits in jeopardy, creating a growing risk of kids going to bed — or school — hungry.
We’re glad to see the US Department of Agriculture, in response to a court ruling, will use its reserves to partially fund SNAP this month as the shutdown continues, although it will take time to get the benefits to families. We’re also thankful that many states around the country are providing extra funding to food banks and, in a few cases, aiming to use state dollars to deliver partial SNAP benefits to residents. So far, state leaders here in Texas have not announced any steps to make up for the loss of federal SNAP funds.
These measures by USDA and other states are a step in the right direction. However, they will clearly not be sufficient to keep kids from going hungry — or to address the other consequences of closing down the government — if Congress continues the shutdown.
Texas children need Congress to reopen the government and ensure families receive the support they need.
