The federal shutdown is affecting SNAP benefits and Head Start programs. It is also putting stress on the nation’s network of Community Action Agencies.
They’re responsible for implementing anti-poverty programs, including some food pantries, Head Start in some communities, weatherization programs and the Low-Income Housing Energy Program, or LIHEAP, which helps cover emergency utility costs.
Mary Lou Schussler is CEO of the West Central Missouri Community Action Agency, which serves nine counties between Columbia, Kansas City and Springfield. Schussler said agencies like hers are facing an existential threat being exacerbated by the shutdown.
President Trump has proposed ending the Community Services Block Grant in his 2026 budget. Schussler said the $770 million grant is the glue that makes the work of Community Action Agencies across the country possible. She said there is support in Congress to maintain the grant, but the shutdown is preventing that work from being done. She also said there have been recent in layoffs at the D.C. office that agencies like hers work with, which has her worried.
"Most of them have been terminated by the current administration about two weeks ago,” Schussler explained. “And we've heard that the president has said that any program that doesn't have staff to administer the grant will not be funded going forward.”
Schussler said West Central served 13,000 people last year. If Community Services Block Grant funding ends, she said it's unlikely they could keep that up. According to Schussler, they have not had to go through layoffs, though they are losing staff who fear future layoffs. She said other impacts are being felt now, as agencies like hers brace for a potential end to the funding next year.
"I've heard throughout the nation that a lot of Community Action Agencies are shutting their doors, and even if they remain open, a lot of their programs have already been closed," she said. "We are not doing any weatherization services right now because the funding has been frozen out of Washington.”
Schussler said they are advocating for elected officials in Congress to reopen the government and protect the funding.