MACAA outlines Head Start challenges, plans for Heritage Center childcare as county weighs local support

Sarah Hanks, Executive Director of the Mid‑Atlantic Community Action Agency (MACAA), told the Nelson County Board of Supervisors on March 22 that MACAA operates three primary programs in Nelson County — Emergency Assistance, Project Discovery and Head Start — and is seeking to resecure a $3.3 million Head Start grant for its service area.

Hanks said the Head Start operation has temporarily shifted to an interim operator, CDI, while MACAA reapplies after a monitoring review found two discipline‑related deficiencies in two classrooms. "There were two deficiencies related to discipline," Hanks said, adding that local investigations by the sheriff's office, Child Protective Services and the Virginia Department of Education licensing division returned those incidents as unfounded, but Office of Head Start standards required corrections within a short window.

Hanks described sharp increases in student needs since the pandemic: "Behavior reports were up about 50 percent this year and that was over about an 80 percent jump last year," she said, noting greater needs for speech services, social‑emotional supports and individualized behavior plans supported by a BCBA on the MACAA team. She said Emergency Assistance work in Nelson focuses largely on residents age 55 and older and that most applicants complete intake by phone.

Board members pressed for details on operations and finances. Dr. Jessica Ligon, a supervisor, asked how likely MACAA was to receive the new Head Start grant; Hanks said the chances were "extremely high." When asked about the consequences if the federal grant did not return, Hanks said funds designated for Head Start would be returned to localities if they could not be used within a similar scope.

Hanks also described MACAA’s brief experiment with afterschool programming this year and the staffing challenges it exposed. MACAA ran an afterschool program that enrolled about 13 students but struggled to recruit reliable part‑time staff and, at the MACAA Board’s direction, paused local operations as Nelson County Public Schools provided staff to continue the program. Hanks said MACAA hopes to develop a full‑day childcare center at the Nelson Heritage Center serving infants through five‑year‑olds from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and that the site would accept DSS childcare subsidies. "There are more than 30 vouchers issued to Nelson County families for subsidized childcare, none of which can be claimed in Nelson County because there are no licensed childcares accepting subsidy," Hanks said.

County staff said MACAA’s FY25 funding request included a range of items; after discussion the Board chose to level‑fund MACAA at $36,000 for FY25, down from MACAA’s request of $38,665. County Administrator Candice W. McGarry and Finance Director Linda K. Staton said staff will follow up on grant timing and any FY23‑24 funds that might be returned to localities after MACAA’s rescission became effective April 1.

The Board thanked Hanks for the update and offered to help advertise MACAA job postings. Hanks said she would follow up with county staff on next steps for staffing and continued engagement.