West Central loses Head Start bid

It is with deep disappointment and sorrow that we must inform our communities, after 53-years of providing quality Head Start services to the west central Missouri region, West Central Missouri Community Action Agency has not been awarded a new contract for the next five 5-year cycle of the Head Start Program grant, following a competitive bid process.

The Office of Head Start originally conveyed to agency leadership that West Central was, indeed, an eligible applicant for negotiating a new contract. However, we were informed less than a week later, at a time when we believed we were at the beginning stages of our contract negotiation, that West Central was not the “highest score” among applicants and West Central would not be proceeding with negotiations for the new five-year contract for the region (which includes Bates, Benton, Cass, Cedar, Henry, Hickory, Morgan, St. Clair and Vernon counties).

We do not know who will be taking over the nine 9-county region, or any details about the program a new provider will provide. The current West Central Head Start contract is scheduled to expire as of June 30, 2019. Through the remainder of our contract, we will continue to provide the quality Head Start services families have been accustomed to receiving from West Central over the last 53 years.

We stand firm in the belief that this is a grave injustice to our local communities, staff, Head Start students, and families. We are currently evaluating our options in response to these actions taken by the Office of Head Start. As more information becomes available, we will pass that on to the public.

While West Central will no longer be the operator of the region’s Head Start program, please know that all other agency operations will continue to be provided to serve individuals and families in our nine-county region.

Please direct all inquiries to Gina Ensor, Strategic Development & Communications Director via email at: gensor@wcmcaa.org or by calling 660-476-2185.”