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Crime records of Navajo staff lead to change Navajo leader seeks interim Head Start fix

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WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Federal officials halted funding to one of the nation's largest American Indian Head Start programs, saying the Navajo Nation failed to perform background checks and that a subsequent inquiry turned up dozens of employees with criminal records.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department's Administration for Children and Families notified tribal officials in a letter Tuesday that it was issuing a notice of summary suspension, meaning the tribe would be prohibited from using money earmarked for its Head Start and Early Head Start programs.

Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr., tribal Head Start officials and members of the Navajo Council Education Committee gathered Wednesday for a special meeting to address the matter.

"The Head Start program is troubled and it has some problems that have to be fixed immediately," said George Hardeen, a spokesman for Shirley.

Shirley directed Head Start staffers to begin addressing the concerns spelled out by the federal agency and he hopes to meet with federal officials next week to talk about lifting the suspension.

The agency accuses the Navajo Nation of not requesting criminal background checks for current or prospective Head Start employees from 2001 to October 2005. It also claims the tribe conducted only partial checks on 612 employees after October 2005 and that it has not conducted any checks whatsoever on as many as 250 workers.

Of the 612 employees checked by federal authorities, the federal agency said 106 had a criminal record report. Of those, 51 had records involving offenses such as first-degree murder, domestic abuse, child abuse and driving while intoxicated.