Editor’s note: This story contains explicit language.

LUFKIN — For Michelle Martinez, the politics in Washington was just background noise in the busy day of a single mom.

Every morning, she takes her kids to different schools across San Marcos, a town of 74,000 people just south of Austin, before going to work. Sports, dinner and baths fill up the evenings.

The full impact of the government shutdown didn’t hit until she packed a bag for her youngest child, 3-year-old Jazlyn, for an extended stay at Jazlyn’s grandma’s house in South Texas. Jazlyn’s Head Start program closed its doors to students on Oct. 30 due to a lack of federal funding. Without any other child care options, Martinez left her baby with her mom.

“We came home without my little daughter,” Martinez said. “She had to sta

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