Nearly two years after the agency responsible for Jefferson County’s Head Start programs dissolved in scandal, a new organization is slated to take over and scores of Alabama employees face an uncertain future.

Community Development Institute, a Colorado-based nonprofit, is finishing up its time operating Head Start and Early Head Start sites around Birmingham. The organization temporarily took over the head start program after the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity dissolved. That group had to give up its grant after a financial misuse scandal in late 2021.

The federal Office of Head Start is expected to announce soon its plans for the county’s next head start provider. But for now they won’t say who – a spokesperson declined to comment for this article.

In the wake of the transition, 126 employees at local childcare sites are slated for layoffs at the end of September, per an Aug. 2 WARN notice, which major employers are legally required to file to notify the state that it plans to cut a lot of jobs ahead of time. It’s not guaranteed that they’ll get to find new jobs with the new service provider.

For now, Community Development Institute runs five sites, per the Office of Head Start. Only four are listed on the nonprofit’s website: Festival Head Start Center in Irondale, Kingston Head Start Center at Kingston Elementary School, Elyton Head Start/Early Head Start near the Legion Field Stadium, and Dr. Craig Pouncey Head Start Center in Center Point.

Spokespeople for Community Development Institute did not respond to requests for comment.

Head Start and Early Head Start programs are federally funded and overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families. The programs provide free preschool for children between the ages of six weeks and five years old who qualify based on family income.

The history leading up to Jefferson County’s need for a new Head Start operator is one dotted with financial controversy. Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity, which in 2021 was Alabama’s largest community action agency, previously ran Head Start programs as well as utility and rental assistance and home weatherization projects for 56 years to support low-income families with critical needs.

In November 2021, the JCCEO’s board of directors fired executive director Sharon Myles and terminated five contracts. Several weeks later, JCCEO announced a $2 million financial deficit because its board said it learned of Myles’ overspending after the agency missed payroll, which Myles later denied. After that, JCCEO’s board said they were “pressured” to let go of the federal Head Start grant that covered 90% of its budget.

One day before Thanksgiving, JCCEO laid off all its 258 employees, 75 percent of whom were Head Start staff. Those layoffs became the subject of a federal class action lawsuit that’s still active with a trial expected next May.

JCCEO’s abrupt shutdown resulted in a temporary closure of its head start and early head start centers — six that were operable at the time, and one more that had already closed — that served more than 700 Jefferson County families. Since then, another facility needed repairs and hasn’t reopened, per the Office of Head Start.

Office of Head Start then appointed Community Development Institute to temporarily take over the county’s head start programs that JCCEO operated. At the time, CDI offered jobs to 160 employees, but several people told AL.com that they turned down the jobs because of pay cuts.

At the start of this year, the Office of Head Start launched a grant competition to find a new permanent operator of Jefferson County’s Head Start services.

The Office of Head Start plans to award more than $10 million in Head Start grants to the new permanent service provider in early September. That provider will make staffing decisions.

In 2020, the Office of Head Start also selected Childcare Resources for a five-year grant for the county’s head start and early head start services. Childcare Resources’ programs won’t be impacted by the changes, said executive director Joan Wright.

Childcare Resources has four of its own sites and eight childcare programs it partners with between Bessemer and Leeds, as well as in downtown Birmingham, Tarrant and Roebuck. The service provider is currently hiring for open positions in teaching, education and family advocates, and is prioritizing bilingual candidates, Wright said.