JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Lutheran Services Florida lost its Early Head Start contract for Duval County six months after a complaint was filed with the federal government.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families found found multiple deficiencies during a subsequent review at LSF.
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LSF’s spokesperson, Terri Durdaller, denied the deficiency report is related to the loss of the agency’s Early Head Start contract.
“The deficiency report you referenced has nothing to do with the application we submitted to OHS (Office of Head Start) to renew Head Start and Early Head Start Services,” said Durdaller in an email to Action News Jax.
In the meantime, parents of more than 300 infants and toddlers are wondering what’s next.
“I just don’t want the chaos. I want the families to stay stable,” said R.L. Gundy, a pastor.
Gundy told Action News Jax he’s worried about what’s next for those families.
“We need to do everything we can to help these families go through this transition and not worry. When you make a decision, you need to have a plan,” said Gundy.
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Gundy’s Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church has a Head Start program through LSF, which is not affected by the change.
LSF only lost its contract for Early Head Start, which has served hundreds of infants and toddlers in Duval County over the past five years.
LSF’s Head Start program, which serves about 1,400 kids up to age 5, is not affected.
In March, Action News Jax reported The New York Times recognized how LSF turned around Duval’s failing Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
Now we’ve learned the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children & Families required LSF to compete against other providers because it did not meet quality standards for continued funding.
LSF acknowledged a complaint was filed in November with the federal agency about its management of the program.
The agency found LSF’s program had four deficiencies and five areas of noncompliance during a review within the past few months.
“We are confident that all the issues are addressable, and in fact, we have already addressed the citations and examples documented in the report,” said Durdaller.
Action News Jax has been working to learn which local agency will take over Early Head Start in Duval County. We’ll let you know when we find out.
The Department of Health and Human Services told Action News Jax that LSF is funded through the end of June.