Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Efforts to Remake Head Start
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to overhaul the Head Start program, a move that has been met with relief from advocates and providers. The order, issued by U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez of Seattle, prohibits the administration from purging words associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion from grant applications and bars the laying off of any more federal employees in the Office of Head Start.
Background on the Lawsuit
The lawsuit, filed in April, accuses the Trump administration of illegally dismantling Head Start by shutting down federal Head Start offices and laying off half the staff. The suit also challenges the administration’s attempts to bar children who are in the U.S. illegally from Head Start programs and to ban language viewed as suggestive of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). According to the plaintiff organizations, which represent Head Start providers and parents, officials told a Head Start director in Wisconsin to remove terms such as “race,” “belonging,” and “pregnant people” from her grant application.
The administration’s efforts have raised concerns among Head Start providers, who must describe how they will use funding in grant applications and are required by law to provide demographic information about the families they serve. A director in Washington state reported that the guidance led her to cancel staff training on supporting children with autism and children with trauma.
Impact on Head Start Programs
Head Start, founded six decades ago as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, is an early education and family support program that serves hundreds of thousands of children from low-income households, foster homes, or homelessness. The program is federally funded but operated by nonprofits, schools, and local governments. Joel Ryan, who heads the Washington State Head Start & Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, welcomed the judge’s order, stating that it halts an attack on Head Start centers.
According to Ryan, “When a Head Start program has their funding withheld because of their efforts to provide effective education to children with autism, serve tribal members on a reservation, or treat all families with respect, it is an attack on the fundamental promise of the Head Start program.” The order from Judge Martinez bars Health and Human Services from cutting any more employees and from punishing Head Start providers if they use the prohibited language.
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