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Tompkins Community Action warns budget cuts could jeopardize Head Start, housing support and food services
Summary
Tompkins Community Action told the county committee that county funds make crucial local matches for large federal grants supporting Head Start, Section 8 and supportive housing; staff said a proposed reduction of local funding would jeopardize federal match requirements and local program capacity.
Tompkins Community Action (TCAction) briefed the Tompkins County expanded budget committee on Sept. 15, describing its role in early childhood education (Head Start and Early Head Start), housing stability (Housing Choice Vouchers/Section 8, supportive housing) and food security (emergency food pantry) and explaining how county funds enable federal grants and local services. Danielle Harrington, TCAction leader, said county support is a small portion of the agency’s roughly $9 million budget but critical to match federal grants and to sustain services. Harrington said TCAction operates Head Start and Early Head Start programs serving hundreds of children (roughly 128 Head Start and 140 Early Head Start slots cited), provides a Housing Choice Voucher program and supportive housing (about 135 units across several properties) and runs a pantry serving roughly 120 households per week with curbside pickup or limited delivery. She told the committee that county funds help meet a required non‑federal match for a Head Start grant (roughly $4.4 million program requiring approximately $1 million in match), support TCAction‑owned supportive housing and keep the emergency food pantry operating. TCAction asked the committee to maintain maintenance‑of‑effort funding at the same level as last year. Harrington warned that a $27,000 reduction in county support — as discussed in the hearing — could jeopardize federal grants by reducing required non‑federal match, force program reductions or closures (including fewer childcare slots) and reduce supportive housing staffing. Legislators asked for TCAction’s most recent audit; Harrington said the agency had a clean audit and would share it. No committee vote was taken during the presentation. Committee members and presenters stressed TCAction’s preventive role: early childhood, housing stabilization and food assistance reduce downstream costs in social services, public safety and emergency interventions and generate local economic activity through federal funds spent locally.
