Tawny Hardyman on losing staff during a government shutdown
Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program Head Start Director Tawny Hardyman describes how the 2025 federal government shutdown impacted staff retention and recruitment for the organization.
By Frederica Freyberg | Here & Now
November 11, 2025 • Southwest Region
Tawny Hardyman on the 2025 government shutdown impacting staff retention and recruitment.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Frederica Freyberg:
As you mentioned, your staff are furloughed going without pay. Are you worried in that child care desert there in southwest Wisconsin that you'll lose staff because they just can't hang on?
Tawny Hardyman:
Oh yes, absolutely. We have lost one staff person already. That was, fortunately for that staff person, another opportunity came into, landed in her lap right away. I just said, "Well, you know, I understand. You're going to have to go and do that." And there would be other staff, yes. We had three staff that were set to start new hire orientation on Monday, Nov. 3. We had already completed all of the background checks, all of those safety things that we have to for our child care centers. And those folks had notified their employer at the time that they would be leaving and resigning and coming to our agency. So I don't know if we'll be able to retain those staff. We had another three staff that we just hired mid-October, so they're in the same thing. They just left a former employer and came to our agency, and then it just — I just wonder if they're going to feel like we're a good agency to be employed with if this has happened right after they've arrived or right as they were planning to come.
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