Parents are showing support and pushing back against the Trump administration as it threatens to implement federal cuts to the Head Start childhood program that was created to help low-income families.
President Donald Trump has followed through on his promise to make cuts to the Head Start program, slashing roughly 60% of the Office of Head Start staff. The administration has also closed half of the regional offices where employees with local knowledge worked, delayed necessary funding, and undermined its mission through various bans.
Federal Cuts to the Head Start Program
This includes bans on anything that officials view as promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or accessibility, as well as "DEIA." The program was originally launched in 1965 and was an outgrowth of the Civil Rights Movement.
For six decades, the program has helped transform the lives of over 40 million families by preparing children for school and supporting parents, especially mothers, in accessing childcare, according to the ACLU.
The government's efforts to cut down the Head Start program's funding have already resulted in the closure of some programs and made it nearly impossible for other programs to meet the needs of the children and families that they were meant to support.
This has caused chaos, confusion, and uncertainty for the working families who are seeking childcare for their kids. Many people consider this situation as one of the current administration's many attacks on children and women, particularly Black women and other women of color.
Teachers and other advocates rallied at the Nebraska capitol in early May in support of the Head Start program. This was when a draft proposal of Trump's budget listed it as one of the programs to be gutted, the Nebraska Public Media reported.
Supporting Low-Income Families
Data showed that the Head Start program can serve around 5,500 children in Nebraska. The deputy director and chief lobbyist for First Five Nebraska, Elizabeth Everett, said that while the program has avoided complete closure, there are still concerns about what would happen in the next fiscal year.
Following some of the planned federal cuts, local administrators and advocates for the Head Start program said that the closure of five Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) offices resulted in various delays in the processing of grant applications.
Furthermore, Tesla CEO Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) released $943 million less in congressionally approved funding for distribution through Apr. 15, 2025. The delays have already left hundreds of families who rely on the program struggling to access affordable childcare, as per Reuters.
