The Navajo Nation has been cleared for Head Start funding after addressing problems with criminal background checks on employees and other deficiencies that caused the program's suspension last spring.

"They've done a really good job in putting in place the procedures and policy to ensure health and safety are addressed," Channell Wilkins, director of the Office of Head Start under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told the Deseret Morning News Thursday. "Obviously, they had considerable issues. It took a little longer (to resolve them) than they probably would have liked, but they really made the changes necessary to improve the organization."

While 83 centers are set to reopen Oct. 23, it may be the middle of next year before the Navajo Nation can adequately staff all 177 centers and bring all the facilities up to code, said Francis D. Becenti, interim director of Navajo Head Start.

"We're starting with the 83 we know are 100 percent ready," Becenti said. "We're working day and night to reopen the centers to serve the Navajo children."

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said in a statement that all the nation's Head Start programs should be running by Oct. 23.

"Now we are back in operation, so that's good news, and I think it's fantastic news," he said. "It's going to be a totally different program, a new program, and I don't see it ever happening again, Washington suspending our funds for the Head Start program."

Becenti said there are currently 50 staff vacancies in the program, which was suspended in May. And there are two to three resignations every day. A staffing shortage is a major reason why some of the centers aren't reopening immediately, he said. Each center requires a teacher, assistant, cook and bus driver. Some facilities are still facing "major renovation problems" and won't reopen until they can be repaired.

"We're working as quickly and as fast as we can to rehire people," he said. "Some people can't live on nothing for three months. We've also gained some qualified new people."

Wilkins' office in a Wednesday letter notified the Navajo Nation it would no longer withhold money from its Head Start program.

The action allows the program's $27 million budget to flow as normal, Wilkins said.

The Navajo Nation Head Start serves 4,013 children and receives $26.9 million in federal funding each fiscal year. It serves the development needs of children from birth through age 5 and their low-income families.

The related Early Head Start program aims to promote healthy prenatal outcomes for expectant mothers, development of very young children and healthy family functioning. It reaches 60 children on the Navajo Nation and receives $597,000.