Food, childcare aid for 150K area residents in jeopardy as federal shutdown drags on

Her organization provides child care and education services to income-restricted families in southwest Ohio through Head Start, a federal program that faces challenges if the government shutdown persists.

“These are the same families that we’re serving. Many of our families are working families. This will impact their ability to go to work,” Velilla said.

Food assistance

This funding gap could impact 1.4 million Ohioans, according to data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. In Montgomery County, more than 83,000 residents rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to help feed their families. Neighboring Greene County has 14,822 residents enrolled. In Clark County, there are 23,661 residents on SNAP.

For these people, the federal shutdown extending into November would mean a delay in new issuance of SNAP benefits, though money already on their accounts will still be available after Oct. 31.

Montgomery County will continue to process new applications and client recertifications to ensure benefit accuracy when federal funding resumes, said Montgomery County Administrator Michael Colbert.

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

“We remain committed to working alongside residents and community partners to make sure no one faces hunger alone, Colbert said.

The Montgomery County commission canceled the 2025 Economic Development/Government Equity fall funding cycle earlier this year, instead shifting $1 million to the region’s food bank.

Food insecurity persists

Any impact to SNAP is an impact to a community’s food security network, Foodbank Inc. officials said.

“SNAP is one piece of the hunger relief network — we know that local residents use SNAP to purchase items they need but do not frequently see at their local food pantry or Foodbank-provided service,” said Foodbank Inc. director Lee Alder

Alder said hunger continues to persist in the region. Foodbank Inc., based in Dayton, serves Montgomery, Preble and Greene counties and has 110 partner pantries.

In October, a food distribution in Preble County saw 485 households in attendance. Roughly 200 of these households were new to Preble County foodbank direct services.

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

This was a stark increase compared to a distribution at the same site last year, which saw 216 households in attendance.

“Time will tell if this spike is one-time or a new, higher level of need and baseline. Our agencies are echoing the same ongoing heightened level of need that we are at our direct distributions,” Alder said.

Officials at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, too, requested 60 emergency food boxes, which the foodbank delivered this month.

“We are continuing to stay in touch with those on base and asking what they need and what they are hearing from those they employ,” Alder said.

WIC

Thousands of local moms and children who receive food assistance through WIC, or the Special Supplement Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, may also find themselves without benefits.

But services continue in the Dayton area. Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County officials are urging residents to continue using their benefits and call their WIC office with any questions.

“Everything we do comes down to healthy eating,” she said.

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

The local WIC program also provides nutrition and breastfeeding education, as well as canisters of formula to families who need them — and Waller said this resource benefits many working families.

The 2025 fiscal year saw 8,500 enrollees in the Montgomery County program. Of these participants, 2,200 were infants.

“A significant number of our families are working. We serve military families, families from our local base who come to either our clinic or a Greene County clinic,” said Waller.

The White House last month said it would inject WIC with $300 million from the Trump administration’s tariff revenues to maintain benefits through October. But that funding dwindles as November approaches.

“We get a lot of phone calls from our families saying, are you open? Are you there? Can I use my card? The basic questions,” said Waller. “We are here for your business as usual, whether it’s somebody returning to reload a card to, you know, continue their WIC, or we are still reaching out and doing outreach and serving new families that might not know about us.”

Head Start

A program that allows Montgomery, Darke and Miami County parents to have child care arrangements will see its funding continue through the year, but the same program is shuttering after Nov. 1 in other parts of Ohio.

Head Start provides early childhood education and child care arrangements for more than 27,000 Ohio children. Its programs — which are run by schools, local governments and nonprofits — receive new grants annually and are not allowed to carry over unspent money.

Miami Valley Child Development Centers receives about 85% of its funding through the Head Start program. The children’s care center network operates on a calendar-year fiscal cycle and has funding through December.

Credit: Bryant Billing

Credit: Bryant Billing

MVCDC serves 2,000 families across Montgomery, Clark and Madison counties. Head Start impacts nearly 3,000 children in the region.

“Our doors are open for service. Funds continue to flow. As long as this shutdown doesn’t drag on through December into January,” Velilla said. “Unfortunately, there are other Head Start programs in Ohio that are not in the same position.”

This would specifically impact 3,738 children across the state.

“I’m deeply disheartened by this,” she said. “They’re mostly in rural communities, where access to childcare is already an issue.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.