The local agency in charge of the Head Start preschool program has had its funding cut in the wake of financial improprieties last year.
East Central Illinois Community Action Agency says it was notified Monday that its funding for the federally run program was being suspended.
The agency came under fire last year when an administrative employee was fired after saying the former head of the agency, Angie Thibodeaux-Burns, was stealing money. Burns later resigned after being ordered to do so by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
ECICAA says the Head Start office had been conducting a review of its finances and concluded that not all of the issues had been resolved.
Head Start services in Ford, Iroquois and Vermilion counties will continue to operate, this time under a new agency, the Community Development Institute.
Meanwhile, ECICAA has hired a new CEO.
Odette Watson previously served the agency for 16 years as its chief academic officer, two years at Laura Lee Fellowship House and six years with a state action agency service.
