After Layoffs And Funding Problems, Head Start Leaders Fear What Comes Next

The problems for Head Start began days after President Donald Trump took office.

Trump's administration announced it would freeze federal grants - the primary funding for the early education program that serves more than half a million low-income children. Then came glitches with the funding website that forced nearly two dozen Head Start centers to close temporarily .

Even after the funding freeze was aborted - and the website was restored - those who run the programs remained on edge. On Tuesday, the administration gave them another reason to worry: mass layoffs .

Scores of government employees who help administer Head Start, which is federally funded but run by schools and nonprofits, have been put on leave. Preschool operators say they have received no communication from the Office of Head Start and don't know who to turn to if they have questions about grants or need the office to sign off on equipment expenditures.

They fear the program, which serves some of the nation's neediest kids and families , could fall victim to the Trump administration's sweeping cuts.