JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – While more than 1,000 preschool students were in the second day of their Head Start classes for the year, some parents are still waiting to get their children enrolled.
Three-year-old CJ spent Wednesday home with his mother, who says there has been a mix-up with his paperwork.
Lasonia Goff says she enrolled her son several months ago with the the company temporarily running Jacksonville's 13 Head Start centers. Goff said she was told there was no record of her application, and she would have to start over, which leaves her wondering who has her original paperwork.
"It's all my personal information; my address, Social Security, date of birth, W-2 information," Goff said. "That's a lot."
Goff said her original documentation documentation was was filed last year with the Jacksonville Urban League -- which lost the federal grant to run the program after some critical health and safety violations. Officials with the new agency -- Community Development Institute -- told her they have no access to her information.
Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to Channel 4 that Head Start parents will have to apply again.
"The Community Development Institute is a different organization," said HHS spokesman Kenneth Wolfe. "There is no automatic enrollment/continuation from last year, so parents will need to reapply. Parents personal information is not in jeopardy."
For Goff, its a huge inconvenience.
"I'm missing work today, yesterday, tomorrow," she said. "I'm telling my job, I'm having a conflict with taking my baby to school."
Parents that have questions about where your child will go, call CDI at 904-721-9788.