DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - Dozens of preschool classrooms across eastern Iowa are sitting empty this week after the federal government shutdown halted funding for Head Start programs on Nov. 1.

Head Start is a federal program run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides free early childhood education, nutrition, health screenings and family support services to low-income children and families.

Community Action of Eastern Iowa, which operates Head Start centers in Scott, Clinton and Muscatine counties, serves 294 children between infancy and age 5.

“We are that safety net of resource for kids and families to have a safe place and a consistent routine, and healthy foods, and health supports and all sorts of other things that we can wrap around the kids and families,

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