Long Branch, NJ --- One week after the nonprofit agency that runs Monmouth County's Head Start program laid off 35 employees and closed its summer enrichment program for more than 100 children, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate how long the nonprofit agency has been in financial trouble and to explore possible solutions to prevent future closures.

The New Jersey congressman also asked Windy Hill, Associate Commissioner of HHS' Administration for Children and Families, for assurances that more than 600 kids continue to receive services despite the fact that the nonprofit agency, Inter-Community Coordinating Council Inc. (ICCC), is financially strapped.

Since ICCC has spent $4.3 million of its $4.7 million federal grant for the 2004 fiscal year, Pallone asked Hill whether or not ICCC can still provide the services needed for the Monmouth County Community, and if the federal agency actually has plans to step in if that funding does indeed run out before October 31, the last day of the 2004 fiscal year.

"As you know, the Monmouth County Head Start program serves 611 children and low-income families throughout my district who rely on the services it provides," Pallone wrote in his letter to Associate Commissioner Hill. "My main priority is to ensure that the Head Start program continues to meet the needs of the children and families it serves in Monmouth County. These children and their parents should not be forced to suffer without these critical services. I'd like to know what actions the Department of Health and Human Services is currently taking to guarantee that the Head Start centers will be operational for the remainder of the fiscal year."

Pallone also voiced concern that the federal agency allowed the financial situation to get so bad that the program had to close down last week. Last month, HHS discovered that ICCC ran a $1.7 million debt at the end of the last fiscal year and was forced to borrow money.

"While your agency discovered ICCC's financial problems last month, I'm concerned that more oversight did not take place in the preceding months to prevent ICCC's fiscal crisis," Pallone continued in his letter. "Based on your own investigation, it appears ICCC was having financial problems at the end of the last fiscal year. I'd like to know why your agency did not discover these problems sooner. I also request your agency conduct an investigation into how these financial problems were initially created so we can prevent them from happening again in the future."