ACLU sues to halt Trump administration attacks on Head Start child-care program

The American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of six early childhood organizations, including one in California, sued the Trump administration Monday to halt the dismantling of Head Start and restore cuts to the program, alleging that the actions required congressional approval.

The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Washington, also alleged that the administration’s directive to strip the program of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts is “unconstitutionally vague,” violates the free speech of its teachers and does not provide enough guidance for providers to know what must be done to avoid losing federal funding.

The DEI allegations come days after federal judges blocked a Trump administration directive that threatened to withhold federal funds from K-12 public schools that did not comply with its anti-DEI guidance. The federal judge who made the initial ruling said the administration was unclear in its definition of DEI.

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Head Start serves 800,000 low-income families across the country, including about 80,000 in California. The six organizations that joined the suit are: Parent Voices Oakland, Family Forward Oregon and Head Start associations in Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The lawsuit alleges that the changes to Head Start have been made in “blatant contravention” of Congress’ approval of funding for the program. Congressional action requires the Department of Health and Human Services to maintain Head Start at its current funding and staffing levels and ensure current capacity as mandated by the Head Start Act, the suit said.

It also alleges that the anti-DEI directives compromise the quality of the program by preventing it from effectively fulfilling the “diverse needs” of its families as dictated by the Head Start Act. Head Start requires the ability to provide linguistically and culturally appropriate services and must be permitted to employ a diverse staff in order to ensure that that is the case, the lawsuit read.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which funds Head Start, did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

Head Start, which has provided child care, health screenings and meals to millions of low-income children since its founding in 1965, has faced multiple disruptions since the start of President Trump’s term. Centers faced funding delays after an executive order temporarily froze federal aid in January, causing some providers to struggle to meet payroll and others to shutter temporarily. Then, scores of federal Head Start workers were laid off in February, followed by the closure of five of 12 regional offices in April, including the Region 9 office, which oversees California.

Most recently, a leaked draft of the budget proposal for the Department of Health and Human Services revealed the department’s proposal to totally defund Head Start by 2026. The budget proposal must be approved by Congress.

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“We know what this administration’s goal is — they’ve told us,” said ACLU Women’s Rights Project attorney Jennesa Calvo-Friedman, who is lead counsel in the case. “It’s to terminate the Head Start program. We are seeing them already take steps to do that.”

Clarissa Doutherd, executive director of Parent Voices Oakland, said eliminating Head Start would bring many families to a breaking point.

“We’re seeing families struggle paycheck to paycheck trying to establish a better future for their children, and those dreams are slipping through their fingers,” Doutherd said. “It’s critical — this comprehensive support system that helps families thrive by providing education, health and workforce development opportunities.”

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Head Start has historically received support from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, though Trump has challenged the program’s funding before — albeit unsuccessfully. He proposed cutting Head Start funding by $85 million in 2018 and by $29 billion over 10 years in 2019, but neither proposal succeeded. Instead, program funding increased during both budget years.

This year Head Start was slated to receive more than $12 billion in funding. California alone was slated to receive about $1.6 billion in grants.

The program was most recently targeted by Project 2025, which called for its termination, alleging it was “fraught with scandal and abuse” and had “little or no long-term academic value for children.” Head Start, however, does not mandate a particular curriculum and is not the only child-care program available to low-income families. Research has also shown it’s had a number of positive impacts on children.

This article is part of The Times’ early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go to latimes.com/earlyed. The Stein Early Childhood Development Fund at the California Community Foundation is among the funders.