By Joseph Goldbach Director of Marketing and Communicaitons
The ongoing federal government shutdown has put thousands of children and hundreds of employees at risk as RCMA will be forced to close its Head Start centers across the state as of November 1, 2025 since funding has not been restored.
RCMA’s Head Start program serves 1,748 children across 24 of its 54 total centers in 18 Florida counties, providing early education, meals, health screenings, and family support for low income and rural poor families. The shutdown has halted the federal funds that sustain these essential services.
As the impasse continues, 685 RCMA teachers, caregivers, and family advocates have been furloughed—many of whom are the main source of income for their families.
“This is a devastating situation for the children and families we serve,” said Isabel Garcia, RCMA Executive Director. “We are doing everything possible to keep our centers open, but without federal funding, we simply cannot sustain operations at our Head Start locations.”
RCMA is exploring all temporary options to bridge the gap, including emergency assistance and private support, and urges families, friends, and community members to contact their congressional representatives to help end the shutdown immediately.
The affected centers include:
- Collier County
- Immokalee Community Child Development Center
- Rollason Infant Child Development Center
- Farm Worker Village C Child Development Center
- DeSoto County
- Smith Brown Child Development Center
- Glades County
- Glades West Child Development Center*
- Highlands County
- Hopewell Child Development Center*
- Lake Placid Child Development Center*
- Hillsborough County
- Balm Child Development Center
- Bethel Child Development Center
- Dover CDC*
- Dover II CDC
- La Estancia Child Development Center
- Plant City Child Development Center
- Sam Allen Child Development Center
- Wimauma Early Education Child Development Ctr.
- Indian River County
- Indian River Robert Covill Child Development Center*
- Manatee County
- Palmetto Child Development Center
- Marion County
- La Guadalupana Child Development Center*
- Miami Dade County
- Everglades II Child Development Center
- Orange County
- Zellwood Child Development Center
- Polk County
- Mulberry Child Development Center
- Mulberry Child Development Center II
- Wahneta Child Development Center
- Volusia County
- Volusia Child Development Center*
*Not all centers will be closed completely. Some centers have classrooms that are funded by Head Start but also other funding sources as well.
The impact extends beyond Florida. Nationally, an extended shutdown would put 65,152 Head Start children and families at risk. In many rural areas, Head Start is the only dependable early education and childcare program that allows parents to work or attend school.
For now, RCMA remains committed to its mission and to transparency with staff and families. The organization will continue to provide updates as the situation evolves.
ABOUT RCMA: RCMA is Florida’s largest nonprofit provider of quality early childhood education and a nationally recognized charter school operator. RCMA serves people in rural areas living in poverty, primarily low-income and agricultural working families. RCMA operates 54 child development centers and three K-8th grade charter schools in 18 Florida counties that provide a bilingual, bicultural curriculum to nearly 4,600 children annually. Established in 1965 and headquartered in Immokalee, RCMA has a staff of 1,400 employees and more than 50,000 alumni. Visit www.rcma.org.