Schools, daycares and other local organizations that rely on federal funds are collectively holding their breath while waiting for Washington to resolve a congressional impasse on the Federal budget for Fiscal Year 2014.

The federal government is in partial "shut down" mode. Across the country, national parks are shut down and about 800,000 federal employees are unable to work, but nobody's hitting the panic button in Wareham just yet.

Carol Couture of Wareham Child Care Center says that the program hasn't been affected yet, but if the shut down doesn't end soon, she won't be able to accept new kids into the program.

"We're all concerned because we don't know what's happening," says Couture.

"We're state funded, but some of the state funding comes from the federal government," she explained. "We contract with the state [for] early education and care," through a state contract, which the state pays for with a federal block grant.

"Right now we're just waiting," Couture said.

Congress is mandated by the Constitution to fund the government, but Republicans have employed the strategy of holding out on passing a budget for the next fiscal year in the hopes of inserting provisions into the bill that would alter portions of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

A number of federal programs have already been affected, and if Congress and President Barack Obama fail to reach a resolution by October 17, the United States is faced with the prospect of the first federal default in history.

Not all federal funding has halted. Members of Congress are still getting paid, as are active duty military personnel among others.

The Massachusetts Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) provides families with information about health and other services for free. The organization released a statement yesterday indicating that they have yet to be affected, but could be if things are not resolved soon.

"Although we are concerned about the federal government shutdown, there will be no immediate impact on the services delivered by the Massachusetts WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Program," the statement read.

"At this time, [Massachusetts] WIC Programs and WIC approved vendors are providing a full complement of WIC services.  We will continue to carefully monitor the situation."

Wareham Superintendent Kimberly Shaver-Hood says that the school system is alright for now, but should the shutdown persist beyond six weeks, there could be some issues.

"We received a memo from the Commissioner of Education, and right now we believe that our funding will not be substantially effected on a short term basis," said Shaver-Hood.

The memo from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education states: "Based on guidance received from our federal funding agencies... [the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] does not anticipate that the shutdown will impact substantially our current federal grants in the short term."

Shaver-Hood said that should the shutdown persist for an extended period of time, the school system's reimbursements for free and reduced price breakfast and lunch will be in jeopardy.

"At that point I think what we're doing is looking at the money we presently have on hand and what we have to do to maintain," said Shaver-Hood.

Some other programs that may be affected are:

Title I

-This federally funded program is intended to help school districts with a high percentage of children from low income families.

Title IIA

- This program provides money for the purpose of improving the quality of education in a district by helping schools recruit and hire teachers, and assist with professional development. The money may also be used to help principals improve upon their skills.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA)

-This program is intended to help "ensure, equity, accountability and excellence in education for children with disabilities,"  according to the Massachusetts Department of Education.

"If this continues for any length of time, we will be concerned," said Shaver-Hood.