Residents of Sullivan County in the Hudson Valley are feeling the crunch after a widely used child care program abruptly closed, leaving hundreds of parents scrambling. One mother whose daughter utilized the program said she's still seeking answers about its closure.

Families across Sullivan County were left without child care and dozens of providers were left without jobs when the program suddenly closed last week. 

School now looks very different for Tasheka Smith’s 3-year-old daughter, Melody Holland.

“She is diverting to just being at home, watching TV, or, you know, playing on games, which, you know, is OK, but her being in school was like essential,” Smith said.

Melody is one of about 350 children no longer able to attend school at Sullivan County Head Start, Inc., a nonprofit organization that utilizes mostly federal funds to run programming in Monticello and Woodbourne.

Smith said parents were notified of the immediate closure at the end of last week.

“I was so livid because Melody loves school. She goes every day. She loves her teachers. You know, I thought that we had better communication with the school for them to at least let us know that something was taking place,” Smith said.

The exact reasoning behind the closure is still unclear. A post on the Sullivan County Head Start Facebook page, said, “Due to unforeseen circumstances, Sullivan County Head Start is closed until further notice.”

Sullivan County Legislature Chair Nadia Rajsz said local lawmakers were surprised by the change. She said the county provides the organization with $70,000 in discretionary money each year to allow the children to continue their education through needed services.

“We had a meeting with them, and it just came to light that we really weren't sure why they were, they were asked to close,” Rajsz said.

Federal officials said they were also notified of Sullivan County Head Start's "temporary" closure late last week. They said those in charge of the early education program cited they were running low on allocated federal funding.

“This decision to temporarily suspend services or to temporarily cease operation was a decision that was made solely by Sullivan County Head Start’s program leadership, and it is not and was not an action that was either required or initiated by the Office of Head Start,” said Khari Garvin, director of the Office of Head Start at the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Rajsz said the county Legislature is working to find a suitable replacement for the children impacted. She said Head Start was providing individualized education plans, food, diapers and other necessities.

Late Wednesday, Rep. Marc Molinaro released a statement to provide an update on the facility.

"The Office of Head Start (OHS) has just informed me that Sullivan County Head Start has decided to relinquish its Head Start grant. In relinquishing its grant, OHS will now be able to transition Sullivan County’s Head Start program to an interim service provider. A timeline for this transfer has not yet been set by OHS, but we are continuing to push them to get this resolved immediately. Having kids without childcare and providers without a job for this amount of time is unacceptable," Molinaro said.

They are much-needed services that working parents like Smith and her husband relied on, and now trying to live without.

“He did overnight and then I did a morning. So technically, he's supposed to be home sleeping, but he has to swap shifts so we can accommodate Melody's schedule now,” Smith said.

But those changes may not be sustainable.

“Where do we go? What do we do? Like, we need some form of answers, some kind of support,” Smith said. “Nothing beats going to school and learning and acclimating with your friends.”

A person who answered the phone in the Sullivan County Head Start Administrative Office said they would not comment on the matter at this time, but will share information as it becomes available.

Garvin said it will take time to get services up and running again, but they don’t plan on removing Head Start services or funding from Sullivan County, as long as there’s a need.