Parents balk at Catholic Charities’ plan to end Head Start program

Parents and a local politician are urging Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago to delay shuttering its three remaining Head Start programs at the end of the month.

The Catholic Charities notified parents of the decision in late-October, and it has left some scrambling to find alternatives they say are already scarce.

The last three early child development centers affected by the closure are St. Joseph, 4800 S. Paulina St. in Back of the Yards, Our Lady of Tepeyac, 2414 S. Albany Ave., in Little Village, and Chicago Lawn, 3001 W. 59th St.

The early-education centers serve more than 500 children between ages 3 and 5, according to Catholic Charities’ most recent annual report.

Liliana Celso, whose 3-year-old daughter attends St. Joseph, wants the site to remain open until at least the end of the school year. She says she hopes Catholic Charities can “own up to their mistake.”

“Leaving our families abandoned is not acceptable, especially now — most schools around our area are at capacity or have a waiting list,” Celso said. “We have nowhere to take our children.”

Brigid Murphy, a spokesperson for Catholic Charities, said cutbacks led to the decision to end the program on November 30.

“Unfortunately, we are not immune to the funding challenges facing all human service providers in Illinois,” Murphy said. “It has been our privilege to help prepare our youngest children for school and life since the 1970s, and we are immensely proud of that legacy.”

Cook County Commissioner Alma Anaya (7th District) likened the plan to throwing the children in her district “out in the cold” ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

“This is the most inhumane thing that could happen because early childhood [education] is already scarce in the city of Chicago,” Anaya said. “We continue to disinvest in communities that need it the most, and that is not helping any of our community members here.”

Anaya said she and residents are begging Catholic Charities keep the early education centers open at least until the school year ends in June.

Melania Vega, who also has a child at St. Joseph, said her family feels abandoned with the closure.

“Catholic Charities leaves hundreds of immigrant children, youth and families behind on Thanksgiving week,” Vega said. “Our community will have little to no options for our child care.”

Manny Ramos is a corps member of Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster Sun-Times coverage of Chicago’s South Side and West Side.