Mishap in email exposes plans to discontinue research on Head Start and other child assistance programs
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: KNUCKLING DOWN ON CHILD WELFARE RESEARCH
Get the latest on how the Trump administration is tossing the baby out with the bathwater in their quest to slash funding for child welfare programming
IOWA CITY, IOWA - In true Trump fashion, the administration could be slicing research on child welfare program effectiveness by the jugular, as plans to can the dough on dozens of university grants scrutinizing enhancements to Head Start and childcare policy have been leaked this week.
The document, dared to see the light of day, lists over 150 research projects potentially in the crosshairs, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The dusty old Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation - the brains behind helping policymakers veer toward programs boasting benefits for low-income kiddos and their whacky families - takes the steering wheel here.
"These grants aim to figure out how to make programs more effective in hitting goals like promoting healthy development, reducing abuse and neglect, and achieving that elusive economic independence," explains Naomi Goldstein, the lady who ran the office for nearly two decades before retiring in 2022 - not that it's any of our business. "It's bloody puzzling why they'd want to axe these efforts."
Axe Grants, Axe Results
The University of Washington isn't immune to the impending budgetary bloodbath, with grant cancellations already sentencing deep cuts to HHS' Administration for Children and Families (ACF). They've opted for some serious house-cleaning, shutting down five regional offices and unceremoniously booting hundreds of staffers one month ago. The staff roster has since plummeted from approximately 2,400 in January to a pathetic 1,500, purportedly ousted ex-employees claim.
ACF have also given the cold shoulder to other HHS divisions, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, by slicing billions in grants focused on public health, gender, race, and other points of contention for President Trump's administration. The leaked document marks the first public mention of ACF's alleged plan to dump a slew of grants en masse, although a department spokesperson later slapped a "draft" label on it, provided there's no truth to the research's termination.
The proposed axe would further dismantle Head Start, the 60-year-old beacon of support for preschool and services for hundreds of thousands of low-income children. In recent months, the program has confronted mass layoffs and a plan to yank its federal funding entirely. In query to clarify Head Start's fate, the document lists studies intended to provide insight and streamline operations, like magic tricks to make more educators hitch a ride at local Head Start programs.
Welcoming the Unwanted: Terminated Grants
The spreadsheet also flags for termination grants worth millions for first-of-their-kind centers designed to serve low-income Black and Hispanic children and families - located at Morehouse College in Atlanta and a nonprofit in Maryland, respectively.
An even more daunting list of axed grants includes childcare policy, child development, foster care, child abuse prevention, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, and more. These studies help policymakers understand the ins and outs of what's effective, ex-officials assert.
Katie Hamm, ACF's deputy assistant secretary for early childhood development until January, sounds the alarm: "Abandoning these projects without a cloak-and-dagger explanation not only squanders taxpayer dollars; it also imperils the evidence base for key safety net programs."
The information was accidentally included in an email dispatched Wednesday to grant recipients at universities and nonprofits by an HHS employee, who probably had his fingers crossed that no one would notice. The department recalled the message only after the spreadsheet, complete with a column detailing whether funding would be terminated or continued for each grant, had been snagged by the recipient. A department spokesperson claimed the document contained "outdated and predecisional information" but declined to rule out that research inside the ACF could be on the chopping block.
Goldstein, the former research office director, terms the situation "a barbaric display of haste and disorder."
Only 21 out of 177 listed grants were marked with a note to "continue" funding in the document. A small number had already expired, and some were flagged for termination "at the end of budget period."
The document neglected to itemize the exact amount of funding that would be slashed, but the office was accountable for $154 million in grant disbursements in fiscal year 2024. More than 50 universities were listed as having grants slated for elimination. Several other state agencies and nonprofits would also be in the crosshairs.
A follow-up email requested updated contact information, but still asked recipients to disregard the spreadsheet. One researcher, afraid of putting their neck on the chopping block by speaking openly, said they were anticipating formal notification soon that their grants would be terminated. Several other grant recipients declined to comment.
- The Trump administration is contemplating the elimination of funding for research on child welfare program effectiveness, potentially affecting over 150 projects.
- The University of Washington in Seattle is among the institutions that could face significant cuts due to the proposed grant cancellations.
- In Iowa City, Iowa, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has already implemented layoffs, terminating hundreds of staffers and shutting down five regional offices.
- The ACF has also reduced funding for divisions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, affecting grants focused on public health, gender, and racial issues.
- The proposed cuts could further jeopardize the Head Start program, which supports preschool and services for low-income children, by ending federal funding or causing mass layoffs.
- Studies intended to provide insight and streamline operations for Head Start and other child welfare programs are among those targeted for termination, as per the leaked document.
- Terminated grants also include childcare policy, foster care, child abuse prevention, and education-and-self-development programs.
- In 2025, the HHS could potentially disburse $154 million in grant funding, with more than 50 universities and several state agencies and nonprofits potentially in the firing line for research-related budget cuts.
