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"slug": "applying-for-a-green-card-or-a-visa-what-to-know-about-the-new-public-charge-rule",
"title": "Applying for a Green Card or a Visa? What to Know About the New Public Charge Rule",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>As of this Friday, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/trump-administration\">Trump administration\u003c/a> will give immigration officers more power to deny green cards and visas to immigrants who use public benefits.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Immigration officials will now consider a wider range of factors to decide if an applicant is likely to become a “public charge” — someone who is primarily dependent on the government to support themselves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Federal law \u003ca href=\"https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-g-chapter-2\">states\u003c/a> that individuals who are likely to become a public charge cannot be admitted to the country, but it does not provide an exact list of factors or circumstances to determine who is a “public charge.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s why different administrations have interpreted the law differently. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260507-IMMIGRATIONCOURTVOLUNTEERS-07-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084722\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260507-IMMIGRATIONCOURTVOLUNTEERS-07-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260507-IMMIGRATIONCOURTVOLUNTEERS-07-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260507-IMMIGRATIONCOURTVOLUNTEERS-07-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Concord Immigration Court in Concord on May 7, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security revoked a Biden-era rule that limited what officials could look at when considering an application. Without that guardrail in place, DHS can now consider whether an individual has ever received “means-tested public benefits” — a category that officials \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/20/2026-14539/public-charge-ground-of-inadmissibility\">have confirmed\u003c/a> includes:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Medicaid (Medi-Cal) coverage\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Unemployment benefits (CalWords)\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Food stamps (CalFresh) and other nutrition-assistance programs like WIC for women, infants and children\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Housing vouchers\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Early education programs like Head Start (if the applicant is a child)\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>School lunch and summer food service programs that an applicant received thanks to food stamps or Medicaid coverage\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The new policy also considers direct cash aid programs at the local level, like guaranteed or universal basic income programs (also known as UBI). Over the past decade, cities like San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles and Stockton have developed their own UBI programs for low-income families that don’t take immigration status into account.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What else could immigration officials look at?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>DHS insists that the Biden-era rule prevented immigration officials from making more informed decisions. Looking at current and past public benefits, the agency said, is “relevant to determining whether an alien is likely at any time to become a public charge.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The new policy is not entirely clear about what else immigration officials would consider public benefits, said Robert Yabes, who leads the immigration legal program at Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Officials now have much more discretion when making a decision,” he added. “We will have to observe how they use that now in cases,” he said. “And then based on what we learn, we will guide clients.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/gettyimages-2238189274-scaled-e1789757180450.jpeg\" alt=\"A federal officer stands in a hallway at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York in October 2025.\" class=\"wp-image-12085161\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A federal officer stands in a hallway at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York in October 2025. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The announcement has sparked uncertainty and anxiety among immigrant families in the Bay Area. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The rules are constantly changing, and it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not,” said Lydia Bustamante, who leads San José’s Office of Inclusion and Belonging.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The result is that people are not accessing the services and resources that they need and deserve in order to support their families in one of the highest-cost-of-living areas in the country,” she added, stressing the importance of talking to legal experts to better understand this new rule.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are many ways to find legal aid in the Bay Area. These are some options recommended by immigrant advocates KQED spoke to:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://baylegal.org/get-help/\">Bay Area Legal Aid\u003c/a>: 800-551-5554\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Santa Clara County’s \u003ca href=\"https://desj.santaclaracounty.gov/oir/legal-services\">portal of free-to-low-cost immigration legal services\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership: 510-241-4011\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Marin County Rapid Response Network: 415-991-4545\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>San Francisco Rapid Response Network: 415-200-1548\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Santa Clara County: 408-290-1144\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Stand Together Contra Costa: 925-900-5151\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>North Bay Rapid Response Network (Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties): 707-800-4544\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Cities and counties are generally not involved in federal immigration affairs, Santa Clara County Executive James Williams pointed out. “All of the care and services we offer to ensure the health and well-being of every family in our community,” he said, “remains fully open and accessible to everybody.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’re doing all we can to make sure that people continue to access those services,” he added, “and know that their county government is standing with them.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who is impacted by this change?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Folks should first find out whether the new public charge rule actually affects them, said Yabes from Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This doesn’t apply to everybody,” he said. “Families should not automatically withdraw from any program that they’re in right now, especially with children, [without] finding out if the new rule actually applies to their particular immigration situation.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The new rule affects only people who are applying for a green card or a visa, Yabes explained. It doesn’t include naturalized U.S. citizens or current green card holders — unless they leave the country for more than six months. “It also does not apply to people who have refugee or asylum status,” he added, “or even DACA and TPS recipients.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, protects some people who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, is granted to immigrants from countries where the situation is too dangerous or unstable to return. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Individuals who are applying for legal permanent residence (a green card) will, however, be subject to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-g-chapter-3\">new guidelines\u003c/a> — even if they have an immediate family member who is a U.S. citizen or are being sponsored by an employer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why are state and local officials worried about this new public charge rule?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California and 22 other Democrat-led states are suing the Trump administration to block the new public charge rule. Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Monday that these guidelines give immigration officials “practically unlimited discretion to deny someone a green card because they used a public benefit program.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is a cruel policy designed to force immigrant families to forgo healthcare and food assistance programs out of fear that using them could jeopardize their immigration status,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12053793\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">City Attorney David Chiu speaks during a press conference at City Hall in San Francisco on Aug. 15, 2024. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco and Santa Clara County have also sued the federal government over the new policy in a separate lawsuit. “If even a fraction of households are withdrawing from these social services, our city stands to lose millions of dollars in federal reimbursements,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bay Area counties are already \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082251/after-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-free-clinics-are-stepping-up\">expecting to lose\u003c/a> millions of dollars in Medicaid funding thanks to cuts from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. More funding losses could strain local services even more.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a statement to KQED, DHS said that state leaders pushing back against the policy “are terrified they will lose federal funds because hundreds of thousands of illegals and noncitizens might remove themselves from American welfare programs.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’re shaking in our boots over this supposedly terrible outcome,” DHS added.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2019, San Francisco and Santa Clara County won a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/news-san-francisco-and-county-of-santa-clara-conclude-public-charge-lawsuit\">legal battle\u003c/a> against the first Trump administration over a similar change to the public charge rule. “This is something that we have fought before,” Chiu said. “This is a cruel attempt by the federal administration to impose a wealth test on families that are seeking a future in our country.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>DHS insists that the Biden-era rule prevented immigration officials from making more informed decisions. Looking at current and past public benefits, the agency said, is “relevant to determining whether an alien is likely at any time to become a public charge.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The new policy is not entirely clear about what else immigration officials would consider public benefits, said Robert Yabes, who leads the immigration legal program at Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The new policy is not entirely clear about what else immigration officials would consider public benefits, said Robert Yabes, who leads the immigration legal program at Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Officials now have much more discretion when making a decision,” he added. “We will have to observe how they use that now in cases,” he said. “And then based on what we learn, we will guide clients.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Officials now have much more discretion when making a decision,” he added. “We will have to observe how they use that now in cases,” he said. “And then based on what we learn, we will guide clients.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"alt": "A federal officer stands in a hallway at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York in October 2025."
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/gettyimages-2238189274-scaled-e1789757180450.jpeg\" alt=\"A federal officer stands in a hallway at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York in October 2025.\" class=\"wp-image-12085161\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A federal officer stands in a hallway at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York in October 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/gettyimages-2238189274-scaled-e1789757180450.jpeg\" alt=\"A federal officer stands in a hallway at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York in October 2025.\" class=\"wp-image-12085161\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A federal officer stands in a hallway at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York in October 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The announcement has sparked uncertainty and anxiety among immigrant families in the Bay Area. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The rules are constantly changing, and it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not,” said Lydia Bustamante, who leads San José’s Office of Inclusion and Belonging.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The rules are constantly changing, and it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not,” said Lydia Bustamante, who leads San José’s Office of Inclusion and Belonging.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The result is that people are not accessing the services and resources that they need and deserve in order to support their families in one of the highest-cost-of-living areas in the country,” she added, stressing the importance of talking to legal experts to better understand this new rule.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The result is that people are not accessing the services and resources that they need and deserve in order to support their families in one of the highest-cost-of-living areas in the country,” she added, stressing the importance of talking to legal experts to better understand this new rule.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There are many ways to find legal aid in the Bay Area. These are some options recommended by immigrant advocates KQED spoke to:\u003c/p>\n",
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"Bay Area Legal Aid: 800-551-5554",
"Santa Clara County’s portal of free-to-low-cost immigration legal services",
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"Marin County Rapid Response Network: 415-991-4545",
"San Francisco Rapid Response Network: 415-200-1548",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Santa Clara County’s \u003ca href=\"https://desj.santaclaracounty.gov/oir/legal-services\">portal of free-to-low-cost immigration legal services\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Santa Clara County’s \u003ca href=\"https://desj.santaclaracounty.gov/oir/legal-services\">portal of free-to-low-cost immigration legal services\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership: 510-241-4011\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Marin County Rapid Response Network: 415-991-4545\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>San Francisco Rapid Response Network: 415-200-1548\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Santa Clara County: 408-290-1144\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Stand Together Contra Costa: 925-900-5151\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>North Bay Rapid Response Network (Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties): 707-800-4544\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Cities and counties are generally not involved in federal immigration affairs, Santa Clara County Executive James Williams pointed out. “All of the care and services we offer to ensure the health and well-being of every family in our community,” he said, “remains fully open and accessible to everybody.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Cities and counties are generally not involved in federal immigration affairs, Santa Clara County Executive James Williams pointed out. “All of the care and services we offer to ensure the health and well-being of every family in our community,” he said, “remains fully open and accessible to everybody.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We’re doing all we can to make sure that people continue to access those services,” he added, “and know that their county government is standing with them.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Folks should first find out whether the new public charge rule actually affects them, said Yabes from Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This doesn’t apply to everybody,” he said. “Families should not automatically withdraw from any program that they’re in right now, especially with children, [without] finding out if the new rule actually applies to their particular immigration situation.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This doesn’t apply to everybody,” he said. “Families should not automatically withdraw from any program that they’re in right now, especially with children, [without] finding out if the new rule actually applies to their particular immigration situation.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The new rule affects only people who are applying for a green card or a visa, Yabes explained. It doesn’t include naturalized U.S. citizens or current green card holders — unless they leave the country for more than six months. “It also does not apply to people who have refugee or asylum status,” he added, “or even DACA and TPS recipients.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The new rule affects only people who are applying for a green card or a visa, Yabes explained. It doesn’t include naturalized U.S. citizens or current green card holders — unless they leave the country for more than six months. “It also does not apply to people who have refugee or asylum status,” he added, “or even DACA and TPS recipients.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, protects some people who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, is granted to immigrants from countries where the situation is too dangerous or unstable to return. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, is granted to immigrants from countries where the situation is too dangerous or unstable to return. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Individuals who are applying for legal permanent residence (a green card) will, however, be subject to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-g-chapter-3\">new guidelines\u003c/a> — even if they have an immediate family member who is a U.S. citizen or are being sponsored by an employer.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Individuals who are applying for legal permanent residence (a green card) will, however, be subject to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-g-chapter-3\">new guidelines\u003c/a> — even if they have an immediate family member who is a U.S. citizen or are being sponsored by an employer.\u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "Why are state and local officials worried about this new public charge rule?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why are state and local officials worried about this new public charge rule?\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California and 22 other Democrat-led states are suing the Trump administration to block the new public charge rule. Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Monday that these guidelines give immigration officials “practically unlimited discretion to deny someone a green card because they used a public benefit program.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>California and 22 other Democrat-led states are suing the Trump administration to block the new public charge rule. Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Monday that these guidelines give immigration officials “practically unlimited discretion to deny someone a green card because they used a public benefit program.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This is a cruel policy designed to force immigrant families to forgo healthcare and food assistance programs out of fear that using them could jeopardize their immigration status,” he added.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“This is a cruel policy designed to force immigrant families to forgo healthcare and food assistance programs out of fear that using them could jeopardize their immigration status,” he added.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12053793\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">City Attorney David Chiu speaks during a press conference at City Hall in San Francisco on Aug. 15, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12053793\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">City Attorney David Chiu speaks during a press conference at City Hall in San Francisco on Aug. 15, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco and Santa Clara County have also sued the federal government over the new policy in a separate lawsuit. “If even a fraction of households are withdrawing from these social services, our city stands to lose millions of dollars in federal reimbursements,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bay Area counties are already \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082251/after-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-free-clinics-are-stepping-up\">expecting to lose\u003c/a> millions of dollars in Medicaid funding thanks to cuts from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. More funding losses could strain local services even more.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Bay Area counties are already \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082251/after-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-free-clinics-are-stepping-up\">expecting to lose\u003c/a> millions of dollars in Medicaid funding thanks to cuts from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. More funding losses could strain local services even more.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a statement to KQED, DHS said that state leaders pushing back against the policy “are terrified they will lose federal funds because hundreds of thousands of illegals and noncitizens might remove themselves from American welfare programs.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In a statement to KQED, DHS said that state leaders pushing back against the policy “are terrified they will lose federal funds because hundreds of thousands of illegals and noncitizens might remove themselves from American welfare programs.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We’re shaking in our boots over this supposedly terrible outcome,” DHS added.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2019, San Francisco and Santa Clara County won a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/news-san-francisco-and-county-of-santa-clara-conclude-public-charge-lawsuit\">legal battle\u003c/a> against the first Trump administration over a similar change to the public charge rule. “This is something that we have fought before,” Chiu said. “This is a cruel attempt by the federal administration to impose a wealth test on families that are seeking a future in our country.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The change will not impact all immigrants. But federal officers can now consider whether a green card or visa applicant received unemployment benefits, housing vouchers, Medi-Cal and even free school lunches.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>As of this Friday, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/trump-administration\">Trump administration\u003c/a> will give immigration officers more power to deny green cards and visas to immigrants who use public benefits.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Immigration officials will now consider a wider range of factors to decide if an applicant is likely to become a “public charge” — someone who is primarily dependent on the government to support themselves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Federal law \u003ca href=\"https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-g-chapter-2\">states\u003c/a> that individuals who are likely to become a public charge cannot be admitted to the country, but it does not provide an exact list of factors or circumstances to determine who is a “public charge.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s why different administrations have interpreted the law differently. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260507-IMMIGRATIONCOURTVOLUNTEERS-07-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084722\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260507-IMMIGRATIONCOURTVOLUNTEERS-07-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260507-IMMIGRATIONCOURTVOLUNTEERS-07-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260507-IMMIGRATIONCOURTVOLUNTEERS-07-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Concord Immigration Court in Concord on May 7, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security revoked a Biden-era rule that limited what officials could look at when considering an application. Without that guardrail in place, DHS can now consider whether an individual has ever received “means-tested public benefits” — a category that officials \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/20/2026-14539/public-charge-ground-of-inadmissibility\">have confirmed\u003c/a> includes:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Medicaid (Medi-Cal) coverage\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Unemployment benefits (CalWords)\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Food stamps (CalFresh) and other nutrition-assistance programs like WIC for women, infants and children\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Housing vouchers\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Early education programs like Head Start (if the applicant is a child)\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>School lunch and summer food service programs that an applicant received thanks to food stamps or Medicaid coverage\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The new policy also considers direct cash aid programs at the local level, like guaranteed or universal basic income programs (also known as UBI). Over the past decade, cities like San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles and Stockton have developed their own UBI programs for low-income families that don’t take immigration status into account.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What else could immigration officials look at?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>DHS insists that the Biden-era rule prevented immigration officials from making more informed decisions. Looking at current and past public benefits, the agency said, is “relevant to determining whether an alien is likely at any time to become a public charge.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The new policy is not entirely clear about what else immigration officials would consider public benefits, said Robert Yabes, who leads the immigration legal program at Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Officials now have much more discretion when making a decision,” he added. “We will have to observe how they use that now in cases,” he said. “And then based on what we learn, we will guide clients.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/gettyimages-2238189274-scaled-e1789757180450.jpeg\" alt=\"A federal officer stands in a hallway at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York in October 2025.\" class=\"wp-image-12085161\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A federal officer stands in a hallway at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York in October 2025. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The announcement has sparked uncertainty and anxiety among immigrant families in the Bay Area. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The rules are constantly changing, and it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not,” said Lydia Bustamante, who leads San José’s Office of Inclusion and Belonging.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The result is that people are not accessing the services and resources that they need and deserve in order to support their families in one of the highest-cost-of-living areas in the country,” she added, stressing the importance of talking to legal experts to better understand this new rule.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are many ways to find legal aid in the Bay Area. These are some options recommended by immigrant advocates KQED spoke to:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://baylegal.org/get-help/\">Bay Area Legal Aid\u003c/a>: 800-551-5554\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Santa Clara County’s \u003ca href=\"https://desj.santaclaracounty.gov/oir/legal-services\">portal of free-to-low-cost immigration legal services\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership: 510-241-4011\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Marin County Rapid Response Network: 415-991-4545\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>San Francisco Rapid Response Network: 415-200-1548\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Santa Clara County: 408-290-1144\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Stand Together Contra Costa: 925-900-5151\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>North Bay Rapid Response Network (Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties): 707-800-4544\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Cities and counties are generally not involved in federal immigration affairs, Santa Clara County Executive James Williams pointed out. “All of the care and services we offer to ensure the health and well-being of every family in our community,” he said, “remains fully open and accessible to everybody.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’re doing all we can to make sure that people continue to access those services,” he added, “and know that their county government is standing with them.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who is impacted by this change?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Folks should first find out whether the new public charge rule actually affects them, said Yabes from Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This doesn’t apply to everybody,” he said. “Families should not automatically withdraw from any program that they’re in right now, especially with children, [without] finding out if the new rule actually applies to their particular immigration situation.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The new rule affects only people who are applying for a green card or a visa, Yabes explained. It doesn’t include naturalized U.S. citizens or current green card holders — unless they leave the country for more than six months. “It also does not apply to people who have refugee or asylum status,” he added, “or even DACA and TPS recipients.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, protects some people who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, is granted to immigrants from countries where the situation is too dangerous or unstable to return. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Individuals who are applying for legal permanent residence (a green card) will, however, be subject to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-g-chapter-3\">new guidelines\u003c/a> — even if they have an immediate family member who is a U.S. citizen or are being sponsored by an employer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why are state and local officials worried about this new public charge rule?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California and 22 other Democrat-led states are suing the Trump administration to block the new public charge rule. Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Monday that these guidelines give immigration officials “practically unlimited discretion to deny someone a green card because they used a public benefit program.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is a cruel policy designed to force immigrant families to forgo healthcare and food assistance programs out of fear that using them could jeopardize their immigration status,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12053793\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240815-CityAttorneyDeepfakes-10-BL_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">City Attorney David Chiu speaks during a press conference at City Hall in San Francisco on Aug. 15, 2024. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco and Santa Clara County have also sued the federal government over the new policy in a separate lawsuit. “If even a fraction of households are withdrawing from these social services, our city stands to lose millions of dollars in federal reimbursements,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bay Area counties are already \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082251/after-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-free-clinics-are-stepping-up\">expecting to lose\u003c/a> millions of dollars in Medicaid funding thanks to cuts from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. More funding losses could strain local services even more.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a statement to KQED, DHS said that state leaders pushing back against the policy “are terrified they will lose federal funds because hundreds of thousands of illegals and noncitizens might remove themselves from American welfare programs.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’re shaking in our boots over this supposedly terrible outcome,” DHS added.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2019, San Francisco and Santa Clara County won a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/news-san-francisco-and-county-of-santa-clara-conclude-public-charge-lawsuit\">legal battle\u003c/a> against the first Trump administration over a similar change to the public charge rule. “This is something that we have fought before,” Chiu said. “This is a cruel attempt by the federal administration to impose a wealth test on families that are seeking a future in our country.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "under-proposed-trump-rule-head-start-would-be-english-only",
"title": "Under Proposed Trump Rule, Head Start Would Be English-Only",
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"headTitle": "Under Proposed Trump Rule, Head Start Would Be English-Only | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>’s Chinatown, toddlers and preschoolers often learn their first English words at Lok Yuen Early Learning Center.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The center serves low-income families who qualify for Head Start, and the children come from households that speak Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Arabic or Nepali. To connect with the kids and get them accustomed to the classroom, teachers greet them in their home languages and hang pictures and signs on the walls in multiple languages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Even if we don’t know their language, being able to learn one or two words like, ‘Hola, como estas?’ can make them feel welcome,” said Jennifer Lee Yuen, a teacher at the center run by Wu Yee Children’s Services, the largest Head Start provider in the city.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But these practices could end under a proposal to reform the 61-year-old program led by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. Earlier this month, he unveiled a plan that would remove federal requirements for class sizes, staff qualifications and other standards with the goal of cutting administrative costs and increasing access to Head Start. Within that plan to eliminate “unnecessary bureaucracy,” however, is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/07/2026-16134/reducing-federal-burden-for-head-start-programs\">new requirement\u003c/a> that programs teach only in English.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-26-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096897\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-26-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-26-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-26-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A child opens a bottle of glue at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>If finalized, the requirement for English-only instruction would reverse longstanding regulations that Head Start programs support bilingualism. Administration officials say those regulations are “at odds” with President Donald Trump’s executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. But advocates for Head Start say this mandate would not only conflict with the administration’s messaging around decreasing federal oversight of the program, but it could also potentially cost jobs and millions of dollars to implement — a scenario the administration also acknowledges. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the proposed rule, officials with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which oversees and funds Head Start, estimated that implementing the English-only mandate would cost about $47 million to replace learning materials at nearly 19,000 classrooms. Some teachers might need retraining, they wrote, “while others may need to be replaced.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The proposal noted that having fewer bilingual staff might weaken non-English-speaking families’ engagement and suggested the educators use translation apps to communicate. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“To me that shows a disrespect of these families,” said Shantel Meek, executive director of the Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University. “It’s common sense to have someone on staff who speaks the language of the families being served.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cep.asu.edu/sites/g/files/litvpz916/files/2026-08/Preserving%20Access%20and%20Opportunity%20in%20Head%20Start%20for%20Children%20Dual%20Language%20Learners%20%20A%20Review%20of%20the%20Science%2C%20Legislative%20Mandates%2C%20and%20Regulatory%20Requirements%20%2811%29.pdf\">Meek co-authored a policy brief\u003c/a> that raises the possibility that the changes may conflict with the Head Start Act, a law passed by Congress which specifies that revisions to the program’s standards will not result in “any reduction in quality, scope, or types” of services already in place.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Education experts say the policy also runs counter to evidence that children learn a second language faster when they \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0002831214545110\">maintain the first language\u003c/a> they learned at home.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This really creates a false choice between learning English and maintaining a child’s home language,” said Martha Hernandez, executive director of Californians Together, an organization based in Long Beach that advocates for English learners and multilingual education in California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We absolutely want children to develop strong English,” she said. “The question is whether we have to ask a 3- or 4-year-old to give up the language they already know in order to do that. And the research-based approach has always been to build English while continuing to develop the home language\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Head Start programs for American Indian children would be exempt from the English-only requirement, but advocates in California worry the policy would affect Early Head Start, which serves expectant moms and children under the age of 3, as well as Migrant Head Start, which serves the children of farm workers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-20-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096895\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-20-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-20-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-20-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children and teachers prepare to work on a craft project at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12096894\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096894\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-4-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Signage is in multiple languages at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12096900\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-60-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096900\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-60-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-60-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-60-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A pedestrian walks past Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“For Early Head Start, we have classrooms where all of the teachers are monolingual in just, say, Spanish, because that’s what all of the kids in that classroom speak,” said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California, an association of Head Start programs serving over 70,000 children in the Golden State. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If you switch to English only, all of those classrooms would be completely devastated, and we would lose all those teachers,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Luis Bautista, who oversees Head Start programs for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, said the proposal has a “chilling effect.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s concerning to think that this is the message we would be sending to children and families across the country, especially when we’re charged to serve children that are in foster care, families that are experiencing homelessness, families that are already dealing with quite a number of challenges,” Bautista said. “We should not be adding more barriers to their participation.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-47-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096898\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-47-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-47-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-47-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children play the red light, green light game with preschool lead teacher Tracey O’Brien on the playground at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>The ACF said cutting regulations would save money and give local providers and their parent-led governing bodies more flexibility to run programs that meet their communities’ needs.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“While the proposed rule requires programs to be conducted in English … it allows programs to seek a waiver from any specific requirement in the regulation as long as it does not relate to nutrition, physical activity, or eligibility,” an ACF representative told KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://headstart.gov/program-data/article/head-start-program-facts-fiscal-year-2024\">The most recent data show\u003c/a> more than 30% of Head Start staffers nationwide were bilingual, and 35% of children enrolled in the program were dual-language learners. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The numbers show that families seek out educators who speak the same language as them, said Savitha Moorthy, director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096899\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Preschool associate teacher Fanny Liang blows bubbles on the playground at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>“Their value is in their ability to provide instruction that’s in the family’s home languages, so [the proposal] is actually stripping away the diversity of the workforce,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yuen, the teacher, said an English-only mandate would make it harder for her to do her job.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“In order for children to learn how to speak a language, they need to trust a teacher first,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When children feel safe and can trust the adults in their care, Yuen said, they’re open to learning. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The proposed changes on the Federal Register are open to public comment until Oct. 6, and could still be amended before being finalized in the coming months. On Sept. 14, Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment and EDvance College will \u003ca href=\"https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WBqylHS1SQm1bbvGt0xw1g#/registration\">host a webinar\u003c/a> to explain the public comment process.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>’s Chinatown, toddlers and preschoolers often learn their first English words at Lok Yuen Early Learning Center.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The center serves low-income families who qualify for Head Start, and the children come from households that speak Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Arabic or Nepali. To connect with the kids and get them accustomed to the classroom, teachers greet them in their home languages and hang pictures and signs on the walls in multiple languages.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The center serves low-income families who qualify for Head Start, and the children come from households that speak Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Arabic or Nepali. To connect with the kids and get them accustomed to the classroom, teachers greet them in their home languages and hang pictures and signs on the walls in multiple languages.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Even if we don’t know their language, being able to learn one or two words like, ‘Hola, como estas?’ can make them feel welcome,” said Jennifer Lee Yuen, a teacher at the center run by Wu Yee Children’s Services, the largest Head Start provider in the city.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But these practices could end under a proposal to reform the 61-year-old program led by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. Earlier this month, he unveiled a plan that would remove federal requirements for class sizes, staff qualifications and other standards with the goal of cutting administrative costs and increasing access to Head Start. Within that plan to eliminate “unnecessary bureaucracy,” however, is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/07/2026-16134/reducing-federal-burden-for-head-start-programs\">new requirement\u003c/a> that programs teach only in English.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But these practices could end under a proposal to reform the 61-year-old program led by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. Earlier this month, he unveiled a plan that would remove federal requirements for class sizes, staff qualifications and other standards with the goal of cutting administrative costs and increasing access to Head Start. Within that plan to eliminate “unnecessary bureaucracy,” however, is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/07/2026-16134/reducing-federal-burden-for-head-start-programs\">new requirement\u003c/a> that programs teach only in English.\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-26-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096897\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A child opens a bottle of glue at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If finalized, the requirement for English-only instruction would reverse longstanding regulations that Head Start programs support bilingualism. Administration officials say those regulations are “at odds” with President Donald Trump’s executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. But advocates for Head Start say this mandate would not only conflict with the administration’s messaging around decreasing federal oversight of the program, but it could also potentially cost jobs and millions of dollars to implement — a scenario the administration also acknowledges. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If finalized, the requirement for English-only instruction would reverse longstanding regulations that Head Start programs support bilingualism. Administration officials say those regulations are “at odds” with President Donald Trump’s executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. But advocates for Head Start say this mandate would not only conflict with the administration’s messaging around decreasing federal oversight of the program, but it could also potentially cost jobs and millions of dollars to implement — a scenario the administration also acknowledges. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the proposed rule, officials with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which oversees and funds Head Start, estimated that implementing the English-only mandate would cost about $47 million to replace learning materials at nearly 19,000 classrooms. Some teachers might need retraining, they wrote, “while others may need to be replaced.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the proposed rule, officials with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which oversees and funds Head Start, estimated that implementing the English-only mandate would cost about $47 million to replace learning materials at nearly 19,000 classrooms. Some teachers might need retraining, they wrote, “while others may need to be replaced.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The proposal noted that having fewer bilingual staff might weaken non-English-speaking families’ engagement and suggested the educators use translation apps to communicate. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“To me that shows a disrespect of these families,” said Shantel Meek, executive director of the Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University. “It’s common sense to have someone on staff who speaks the language of the families being served.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“To me that shows a disrespect of these families,” said Shantel Meek, executive director of the Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University. “It’s common sense to have someone on staff who speaks the language of the families being served.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cep.asu.edu/sites/g/files/litvpz916/files/2026-08/Preserving%20Access%20and%20Opportunity%20in%20Head%20Start%20for%20Children%20Dual%20Language%20Learners%20%20A%20Review%20of%20the%20Science%2C%20Legislative%20Mandates%2C%20and%20Regulatory%20Requirements%20%2811%29.pdf\">Meek co-authored a policy brief\u003c/a> that raises the possibility that the changes may conflict with the Head Start Act, a law passed by Congress which specifies that revisions to the program’s standards will not result in “any reduction in quality, scope, or types” of services already in place.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cep.asu.edu/sites/g/files/litvpz916/files/2026-08/Preserving%20Access%20and%20Opportunity%20in%20Head%20Start%20for%20Children%20Dual%20Language%20Learners%20%20A%20Review%20of%20the%20Science%2C%20Legislative%20Mandates%2C%20and%20Regulatory%20Requirements%20%2811%29.pdf\">Meek co-authored a policy brief\u003c/a> that raises the possibility that the changes may conflict with the Head Start Act, a law passed by Congress which specifies that revisions to the program’s standards will not result in “any reduction in quality, scope, or types” of services already in place.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Education experts say the policy also runs counter to evidence that children learn a second language faster when they \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0002831214545110\">maintain the first language\u003c/a> they learned at home.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Education experts say the policy also runs counter to evidence that children learn a second language faster when they \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0002831214545110\">maintain the first language\u003c/a> they learned at home.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This really creates a false choice between learning English and maintaining a child’s home language,” said Martha Hernandez, executive director of Californians Together, an organization based in Long Beach that advocates for English learners and multilingual education in California. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This really creates a false choice between learning English and maintaining a child’s home language,” said Martha Hernandez, executive director of Californians Together, an organization based in Long Beach that advocates for English learners and multilingual education in California. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We absolutely want children to develop strong English,” she said. “The question is whether we have to ask a 3- or 4-year-old to give up the language they already know in order to do that. And the research-based approach has always been to build English while continuing to develop the home language\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Head Start programs for American Indian children would be exempt from the English-only requirement, but advocates in California worry the policy would affect Early Head Start, which serves expectant moms and children under the age of 3, as well as Migrant Head Start, which serves the children of farm workers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“For Early Head Start, we have classrooms where all of the teachers are monolingual in just, say, Spanish, because that’s what all of the kids in that classroom speak,” said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California, an association of Head Start programs serving over 70,000 children in the Golden State. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“For Early Head Start, we have classrooms where all of the teachers are monolingual in just, say, Spanish, because that’s what all of the kids in that classroom speak,” said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California, an association of Head Start programs serving over 70,000 children in the Golden State. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If you switch to English only, all of those classrooms would be completely devastated, and we would lose all those teachers,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Luis Bautista, who oversees Head Start programs for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, said the proposal has a “chilling effect.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s concerning to think that this is the message we would be sending to children and families across the country, especially when we’re charged to serve children that are in foster care, families that are experiencing homelessness, families that are already dealing with quite a number of challenges,” Bautista said. “We should not be adding more barriers to their participation.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It’s concerning to think that this is the message we would be sending to children and families across the country, especially when we’re charged to serve children that are in foster care, families that are experiencing homelessness, families that are already dealing with quite a number of challenges,” Bautista said. “We should not be adding more barriers to their participation.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-47-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096898\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children play the red light, green light game with preschool lead teacher Tracey O’Brien on the playground at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The ACF said cutting regulations would save money and give local providers and their parent-led governing bodies more flexibility to run programs that meet their communities’ needs.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“While the proposed rule requires programs to be conducted in English … it allows programs to seek a waiver from any specific requirement in the regulation as long as it does not relate to nutrition, physical activity, or eligibility,” an ACF representative told KQED. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“While the proposed rule requires programs to be conducted in English … it allows programs to seek a waiver from any specific requirement in the regulation as long as it does not relate to nutrition, physical activity, or eligibility,” an ACF representative told KQED. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://headstart.gov/program-data/article/head-start-program-facts-fiscal-year-2024\">The most recent data show\u003c/a> more than 30% of Head Start staffers nationwide were bilingual, and 35% of children enrolled in the program were dual-language learners. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://headstart.gov/program-data/article/head-start-program-facts-fiscal-year-2024\">The most recent data show\u003c/a> more than 30% of Head Start staffers nationwide were bilingual, and 35% of children enrolled in the program were dual-language learners. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The numbers show that families seek out educators who speak the same language as them, said Savitha Moorthy, director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The numbers show that families seek out educators who speak the same language as them, said Savitha Moorthy, director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096899\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Preschool associate teacher Fanny Liang blows bubbles on the playground at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096899\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Preschool associate teacher Fanny Liang blows bubbles on the playground at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Their value is in their ability to provide instruction that’s in the family’s home languages, so [the proposal] is actually stripping away the diversity of the workforce,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yuen, the teacher, said an English-only mandate would make it harder for her to do her job.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“In order for children to learn how to speak a language, they need to trust a teacher first,” she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When children feel safe and can trust the adults in their care, Yuen said, they’re open to learning. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The proposed changes on the Federal Register are open to public comment until Oct. 6, and could still be amended before being finalized in the coming months. On Sept. 14, Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment and EDvance College will \u003ca href=\"https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WBqylHS1SQm1bbvGt0xw1g#/registration\">host a webinar\u003c/a> to explain the public comment process.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Advocates for the early childhood program say the proposal would undermine learning for California children who are dual-language learners and contradict federal law meant to preserve Head Start quality standards. ",
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"title": "Under Proposed Trump Rule, Head Start Would Be English-Only | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>’s Chinatown, toddlers and preschoolers often learn their first English words at Lok Yuen Early Learning Center.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The center serves low-income families who qualify for Head Start, and the children come from households that speak Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Arabic or Nepali. To connect with the kids and get them accustomed to the classroom, teachers greet them in their home languages and hang pictures and signs on the walls in multiple languages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Even if we don’t know their language, being able to learn one or two words like, ‘Hola, como estas?’ can make them feel welcome,” said Jennifer Lee Yuen, a teacher at the center run by Wu Yee Children’s Services, the largest Head Start provider in the city.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But these practices could end under a proposal to reform the 61-year-old program led by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. Earlier this month, he unveiled a plan that would remove federal requirements for class sizes, staff qualifications and other standards with the goal of cutting administrative costs and increasing access to Head Start. Within that plan to eliminate “unnecessary bureaucracy,” however, is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/07/2026-16134/reducing-federal-burden-for-head-start-programs\">new requirement\u003c/a> that programs teach only in English.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-26-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096897\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-26-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-26-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-26-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A child opens a bottle of glue at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>If finalized, the requirement for English-only instruction would reverse longstanding regulations that Head Start programs support bilingualism. Administration officials say those regulations are “at odds” with President Donald Trump’s executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. But advocates for Head Start say this mandate would not only conflict with the administration’s messaging around decreasing federal oversight of the program, but it could also potentially cost jobs and millions of dollars to implement — a scenario the administration also acknowledges. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the proposed rule, officials with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which oversees and funds Head Start, estimated that implementing the English-only mandate would cost about $47 million to replace learning materials at nearly 19,000 classrooms. Some teachers might need retraining, they wrote, “while others may need to be replaced.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The proposal noted that having fewer bilingual staff might weaken non-English-speaking families’ engagement and suggested the educators use translation apps to communicate. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“To me that shows a disrespect of these families,” said Shantel Meek, executive director of the Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University. “It’s common sense to have someone on staff who speaks the language of the families being served.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cep.asu.edu/sites/g/files/litvpz916/files/2026-08/Preserving%20Access%20and%20Opportunity%20in%20Head%20Start%20for%20Children%20Dual%20Language%20Learners%20%20A%20Review%20of%20the%20Science%2C%20Legislative%20Mandates%2C%20and%20Regulatory%20Requirements%20%2811%29.pdf\">Meek co-authored a policy brief\u003c/a> that raises the possibility that the changes may conflict with the Head Start Act, a law passed by Congress which specifies that revisions to the program’s standards will not result in “any reduction in quality, scope, or types” of services already in place.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Education experts say the policy also runs counter to evidence that children learn a second language faster when they \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0002831214545110\">maintain the first language\u003c/a> they learned at home.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This really creates a false choice between learning English and maintaining a child’s home language,” said Martha Hernandez, executive director of Californians Together, an organization based in Long Beach that advocates for English learners and multilingual education in California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We absolutely want children to develop strong English,” she said. “The question is whether we have to ask a 3- or 4-year-old to give up the language they already know in order to do that. And the research-based approach has always been to build English while continuing to develop the home language\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Head Start programs for American Indian children would be exempt from the English-only requirement, but advocates in California worry the policy would affect Early Head Start, which serves expectant moms and children under the age of 3, as well as Migrant Head Start, which serves the children of farm workers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-20-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096895\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-20-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-20-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-20-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children and teachers prepare to work on a craft project at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12096894\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096894\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-4-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Signage is in multiple languages at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12096900\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-60-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096900\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-60-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-60-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-60-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A pedestrian walks past Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“For Early Head Start, we have classrooms where all of the teachers are monolingual in just, say, Spanish, because that’s what all of the kids in that classroom speak,” said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California, an association of Head Start programs serving over 70,000 children in the Golden State. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If you switch to English only, all of those classrooms would be completely devastated, and we would lose all those teachers,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Luis Bautista, who oversees Head Start programs for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, said the proposal has a “chilling effect.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s concerning to think that this is the message we would be sending to children and families across the country, especially when we’re charged to serve children that are in foster care, families that are experiencing homelessness, families that are already dealing with quite a number of challenges,” Bautista said. “We should not be adding more barriers to their participation.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-47-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096898\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-47-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-47-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-47-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children play the red light, green light game with preschool lead teacher Tracey O’Brien on the playground at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>The ACF said cutting regulations would save money and give local providers and their parent-led governing bodies more flexibility to run programs that meet their communities’ needs.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“While the proposed rule requires programs to be conducted in English … it allows programs to seek a waiver from any specific requirement in the regulation as long as it does not relate to nutrition, physical activity, or eligibility,” an ACF representative told KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://headstart.gov/program-data/article/head-start-program-facts-fiscal-year-2024\">The most recent data show\u003c/a> more than 30% of Head Start staffers nationwide were bilingual, and 35% of children enrolled in the program were dual-language learners. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The numbers show that families seek out educators who speak the same language as them, said Savitha Moorthy, director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096899\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-HEADSTARTDEREGULATION-NG-54-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Preschool associate teacher Fanny Liang blows bubbles on the playground at Wu Yee Children’s Services in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Aug. 24, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>“Their value is in their ability to provide instruction that’s in the family’s home languages, so [the proposal] is actually stripping away the diversity of the workforce,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yuen, the teacher, said an English-only mandate would make it harder for her to do her job.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“In order for children to learn how to speak a language, they need to trust a teacher first,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When children feel safe and can trust the adults in their care, Yuen said, they’re open to learning. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The proposed changes on the Federal Register are open to public comment until Oct. 6, and could still be amended before being finalized in the coming months. On Sept. 14, Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment and EDvance College will \u003ca href=\"https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WBqylHS1SQm1bbvGt0xw1g#/registration\">host a webinar\u003c/a> to explain the public comment process.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The agency that operates the only \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> program in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/santa-cruz\">Santa Cruz\u003c/a> County is stepping away, paving the way for a federal contractor to take over and reopen classrooms for more than 200 families who have been without child care for a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Encompass Community Services \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12063796/government-reopens-but-santa-cruz-head-start-families-still-face-child-care-crisis\">shuttered classrooms and laid off 95 teachers and staffers\u003c/a> on Oct. 31 after running low on cash. The agency was due to receive a fresh batch of funds on Nov. 1, but the 43-day federal government shutdown delayed the payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In response to the extended federal shutdown, the delayed funding decisions, and the urgent need for stability for the families we serve, we concluded that stepping away from this grant now is the most responsible way to ensure that Head Start services resume as quickly as possible,” the agency’s interim CEO, Kim Morrison, wrote in a letter to parents on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said when the government reopened, the federal Office of Head Start gave Encompass 72 hours to meet “a set of unrealistic requirements” in order to receive payments. They include a new operational plan and budget to provide care for more than 400 children. Morrison said Encompass was serving under 250 children before the shutdown and didn’t have enough staff to safely meet that demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Encompass was initially awarded $10 million to serve about 420 children, but since the pandemic, it and other Head Start programs have seen a decline in enrollment and struggled with staff turnover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044135\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044135\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students play on the playground outside a Head Start in Hollister, California, on June 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This is not the outcome we wanted; however, this decision is a painful but necessary step to ensure that early education services continue in our community,” she wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Office of Head Start appointed the nonprofit Community Development Institute to temporarily run Head Start services in Santa Cruz County until it conducts a bidding process for a new grant. The contractor plans to announce a timeline for reopening next week, Morrison said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Email messages to the institute and the Office of Head Start were not immediately returned on Tuesday.[aside postID=news_12063796 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-1-KQED.jpg']The union representing the laid-off staff said they haven’t heard from them either, but they’ll work closely with the Office of Head Start to ensure a smooth transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our focus is restoring high-quality early childhood education as quickly as possible and ensuring SEIU 521 members can return to the work they love,” the union said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local nonprofits, community action agencies or school districts typically operate Head Start programs. The Office of Head Start administers grant funding and provides oversight to the local operators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morrison said that by walking away, Encompass can compete for a new grant to operate Head Start programs in the county again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Santa Cruz County Office of Education, which gave some money to help keep the Head Start program operating through the month of October, is looking into bidding for the grant, Faris Sabbah, the county Superintendent of Schools, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important for us to know that the programs are gonna be in the right hands,” he said. “I do have to say, though, that this is part of a pattern of our federal government to strip away our safety net systems by making it more difficult for us to provide services to our most vulnerable communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The agency that operates the only \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> program in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/santa-cruz\">Santa Cruz\u003c/a> County is stepping away, paving the way for a federal contractor to take over and reopen classrooms for more than 200 families who have been without child care for a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Encompass Community Services \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12063796/government-reopens-but-santa-cruz-head-start-families-still-face-child-care-crisis\">shuttered classrooms and laid off 95 teachers and staffers\u003c/a> on Oct. 31 after running low on cash. The agency was due to receive a fresh batch of funds on Nov. 1, but the 43-day federal government shutdown delayed the payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In response to the extended federal shutdown, the delayed funding decisions, and the urgent need for stability for the families we serve, we concluded that stepping away from this grant now is the most responsible way to ensure that Head Start services resume as quickly as possible,” the agency’s interim CEO, Kim Morrison, wrote in a letter to parents on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said when the government reopened, the federal Office of Head Start gave Encompass 72 hours to meet “a set of unrealistic requirements” in order to receive payments. They include a new operational plan and budget to provide care for more than 400 children. Morrison said Encompass was serving under 250 children before the shutdown and didn’t have enough staff to safely meet that demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Encompass was initially awarded $10 million to serve about 420 children, but since the pandemic, it and other Head Start programs have seen a decline in enrollment and struggled with staff turnover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044135\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044135\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students play on the playground outside a Head Start in Hollister, California, on June 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This is not the outcome we wanted; however, this decision is a painful but necessary step to ensure that early education services continue in our community,” she wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Office of Head Start appointed the nonprofit Community Development Institute to temporarily run Head Start services in Santa Cruz County until it conducts a bidding process for a new grant. The contractor plans to announce a timeline for reopening next week, Morrison said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Email messages to the institute and the Office of Head Start were not immediately returned on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The union representing the laid-off staff said they haven’t heard from them either, but they’ll work closely with the Office of Head Start to ensure a smooth transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our focus is restoring high-quality early childhood education as quickly as possible and ensuring SEIU 521 members can return to the work they love,” the union said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local nonprofits, community action agencies or school districts typically operate Head Start programs. The Office of Head Start administers grant funding and provides oversight to the local operators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morrison said that by walking away, Encompass can compete for a new grant to operate Head Start programs in the county again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Santa Cruz County Office of Education, which gave some money to help keep the Head Start program operating through the month of October, is looking into bidding for the grant, Faris Sabbah, the county Superintendent of Schools, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s important for us to know that the programs are gonna be in the right hands,” he said. “I do have to say, though, that this is part of a pattern of our federal government to strip away our safety net systems by making it more difficult for us to provide services to our most vulnerable communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Iracema Torres was starting a new job as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/santa-cruz\">Santa Cruz\u003c/a> County public health worker when her daughter’s Head Start center closed more than two weeks ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The job was promising: She liked the benefits, hours and coworkers and felt good about helping single parents like herself recover from substance abuse, domestic violence and other life struggles. The center’s closure, however, meant she had to take an unpaid leave to care for her 2-year-old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am just stuck because I don’t have anyone to help me with child care,” Torres said. “It’s been super hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The government was starting to reopen on Thursday, but the fallout of the longest shutdown in U.S. history will last longer for more than 200 low-income families who send their children to a Head Start program run by Encompass Community Services, the largest nonprofit in Santa Cruz County, and 95 teachers and staffers who were laid off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Encompass was the only Head Start grantee in California to close its classrooms during the shutdown after running low on government dollars. The agency was due to receive its annual funding on Nov. 1, but staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were furloughed and couldn’t process payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those federal workers are back at work, but it was unclear when Encompass will get funding to restart its program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064105\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064105\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Daisy1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Daisy1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Daisy1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Daisy1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A shuttered Head Start center. \u003ccite>(Daisy Nguyen/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’re preparing to reopen, but we don’t know when that’s going to be,” said Kim Morrison, the agency’s chief financial officer and interim CEO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She didn’t know the timeline because about 140 other Head Start programs around the country are also awaiting new funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When KQED asked a spokesperson for the federal Administration for Children and Families how long it may take for money to flow to Head Start grantees, they acknowledged the inquiry but did not have an immediate answer.[aside postID=news_12061802 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251027-CHILD-CARE-PRICES-MD-05-1-KQED.jpg']Adding to the uncertainty is that Congress approved a spending package that funds the government only through January. It’s unclear whether programs like Encompass will be fully or partially funded, said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s also a possibility at the end of January that we’ll be facing down another shutdown, which would be devastating,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Encompass leadership tried to minimize the impact by partnering with the Pajaro Valley Unified District in Watsonville to temporarily care for Head Start children starting this week. The district held a job fair to try to bring Encompass employees on board. So far, about 20 families have opted in, Morrison said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But laid-off teachers like Christina Mesta worry the partnership puts the agency’s federal grant at risk. The school district leases classrooms to Encompass to operate the program, and Mesta asserts that the materials and equipment in those classrooms hold federal interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without getting government approval of the partnership, she said, “they may take away the grant entirely, which would put the staff without jobs and families without services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot at stake because of this,” Mesta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064015\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064015\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-9-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-9-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-9-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-9-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Iracema Torres plays with her daughter, Cataleya, at their Santa Cruz home on Nov. 12, 2025. The family is among more than 250 affected by the temporary closure of Head Start classrooms during the federal shutdown. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Morrison said the agency notified the Office of Head Start of the partnership and worked to ensure the arrangement is temporary, and that families and teachers who choose to go to those classrooms can come back to Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are comfortable that we are not violating any kind of regulations that Head Start has in doing this,” Morrison said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The uncertainty weighs on Torres. She has less than a month to find another child care arrangement before returning to work. She said she has looked for openings at private child care centers, but the $1,900 to $2,200 monthly costs for full-time care is as much as her rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064017\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064017\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gavriel Smith and his 5-year-old son, Timothy, outside the closed Natural Bridges Head Start Center in Santa Cruz on Nov. 12, 2025. The center was forced to close after Encompass Community Services’ Nov. 1 grant renewal was left unprocessed during the federal shutdown. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If I don’t have child care, then I don’t have work,” she said. “If I don’t have work, I don’t have money to pay my bills.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other laid-off workers, like Gavriel Smith, who handles maintenance at the Head Start centers, said they’re praying funding comes through soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smith said he has filed for unemployment, applied for food stamps and is picking up handyman jobs to support himself and his 5-year-old son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m doing my due diligence for now,” he said. “But going into the holidays, I know it’s going to be tough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "Government Reopens, but Santa Cruz Head Start Families Still Face Child Care Crisis | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Iracema Torres was starting a new job as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/santa-cruz\">Santa Cruz\u003c/a> County public health worker when her daughter’s Head Start center closed more than two weeks ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The job was promising: She liked the benefits, hours and coworkers and felt good about helping single parents like herself recover from substance abuse, domestic violence and other life struggles. The center’s closure, however, meant she had to take an unpaid leave to care for her 2-year-old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am just stuck because I don’t have anyone to help me with child care,” Torres said. “It’s been super hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The government was starting to reopen on Thursday, but the fallout of the longest shutdown in U.S. history will last longer for more than 200 low-income families who send their children to a Head Start program run by Encompass Community Services, the largest nonprofit in Santa Cruz County, and 95 teachers and staffers who were laid off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Encompass was the only Head Start grantee in California to close its classrooms during the shutdown after running low on government dollars. The agency was due to receive its annual funding on Nov. 1, but staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were furloughed and couldn’t process payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those federal workers are back at work, but it was unclear when Encompass will get funding to restart its program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064105\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064105\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Daisy1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Daisy1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Daisy1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Daisy1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A shuttered Head Start center. \u003ccite>(Daisy Nguyen/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’re preparing to reopen, but we don’t know when that’s going to be,” said Kim Morrison, the agency’s chief financial officer and interim CEO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She didn’t know the timeline because about 140 other Head Start programs around the country are also awaiting new funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When KQED asked a spokesperson for the federal Administration for Children and Families how long it may take for money to flow to Head Start grantees, they acknowledged the inquiry but did not have an immediate answer.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Adding to the uncertainty is that Congress approved a spending package that funds the government only through January. It’s unclear whether programs like Encompass will be fully or partially funded, said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s also a possibility at the end of January that we’ll be facing down another shutdown, which would be devastating,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Encompass leadership tried to minimize the impact by partnering with the Pajaro Valley Unified District in Watsonville to temporarily care for Head Start children starting this week. The district held a job fair to try to bring Encompass employees on board. So far, about 20 families have opted in, Morrison said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But laid-off teachers like Christina Mesta worry the partnership puts the agency’s federal grant at risk. The school district leases classrooms to Encompass to operate the program, and Mesta asserts that the materials and equipment in those classrooms hold federal interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without getting government approval of the partnership, she said, “they may take away the grant entirely, which would put the staff without jobs and families without services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot at stake because of this,” Mesta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064015\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064015\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-9-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-9-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-9-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-9-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Iracema Torres plays with her daughter, Cataleya, at their Santa Cruz home on Nov. 12, 2025. The family is among more than 250 affected by the temporary closure of Head Start classrooms during the federal shutdown. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Morrison said the agency notified the Office of Head Start of the partnership and worked to ensure the arrangement is temporary, and that families and teachers who choose to go to those classrooms can come back to Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are comfortable that we are not violating any kind of regulations that Head Start has in doing this,” Morrison said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The uncertainty weighs on Torres. She has less than a month to find another child care arrangement before returning to work. She said she has looked for openings at private child care centers, but the $1,900 to $2,200 monthly costs for full-time care is as much as her rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064017\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064017\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/20251112_HEADSTART_SANTACRUZ_GH-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gavriel Smith and his 5-year-old son, Timothy, outside the closed Natural Bridges Head Start Center in Santa Cruz on Nov. 12, 2025. The center was forced to close after Encompass Community Services’ Nov. 1 grant renewal was left unprocessed during the federal shutdown. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If I don’t have child care, then I don’t have work,” she said. “If I don’t have work, I don’t have money to pay my bills.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other laid-off workers, like Gavriel Smith, who handles maintenance at the Head Start centers, said they’re praying funding comes through soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smith said he has filed for unemployment, applied for food stamps and is picking up handyman jobs to support himself and his 5-year-old son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m doing my due diligence for now,” he said. “But going into the holidays, I know it’s going to be tough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "layoff-threats-weigh-on-head-start-teachers-and-parents-in-hollister",
"title": "Layoff Threats Weigh on Head Start Teachers and Parents in Hollister",
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"content": "\u003cp>In a park steps away from their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> classrooms in Hollister, a group of kids marked the end of their preschool year with a moving-up ceremony. They wore colorful caps and gowns as they were called, one by one, to a balloon archway to receive their certificate of achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kids who are going to kindergarten were born during the pandemic. Though some of them had a challenging start to preschool, their teacher, Maricela Orozco, said they had the social-emotional skills for the next stage of schooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re more than ready, I can say that, for elementary,” Orozco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But parents of 4-year-olds who just finished one year of preschool thought their kids would spend another year at Head Start, which uses federal funds to provide educational and other services to lower-income families with children up to 5 years old. They’re upset that the Santa Clara County Office of Education, which runs the Head Start center in this rural community 45 miles southeast of San José, still hasn’t gotten its $38 million federal grant renewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without that guarantee, \u003ca href=\"https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:1b080735-7d1a-4549-bfac-3918fab447ac?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover\">combined with reduced or expired funding\u003c/a> that supported the office’s early learning, migrant education and special education services, nearly 275 workers will be laid off June 30. Some 1200 families enrolled in Head Start will have to look for another child care option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044137\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044137\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Corchado, a Head Start teacher in Hollister, San Benito County, sits with parents and students outside the school on June 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Hollister, where 10% of the population lives below the poverty line, parents rely on Head Start for full-time child care while they go to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very frustrating, it’s very hard. Just not knowing has been rough for us,” Vanessa Hernandez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her son, Daniel, is old enough to begin transitional kindergarten at an elementary school, but Hernandez said he could benefit from another year at Head Start, where classroom sizes are smaller and students and their parents get more individualized support.[aside postID=news_12039626 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg']“With Head Start, you get more time to grow and become more social. In TK, they already expect that of you,” she said. “He needs to be here longer because without the teachers helping him, I don’t know that he’ll succeed for the coming years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evelyn Melchor said when her son started at Head Start, he only spoke Spanish and had a hard time communicating with teachers and classmates. But after his first full year of preschool, Melchor said her son “has done a complete 360.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I ask him how he’s doing, how his day went, whatever he’s going through, he’s able to tell me everything in English and in Spanish,” she said. “Developmentally, so many things have just changed, and to me, it’s the best thing that could have happened to us.\u003cem>”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melchor was also counting on sending her younger son to Head Start when he’s old enough to enroll next year, so she could go back to work as a medical assistant. She said she stopped working when she had her second child because she couldn’t keep up with the rising cost of child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We did take a hit financially, and it’s been rough,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The uncertainty of the Head Start program in Hollister makes it hard for Melchor to plan for her own future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044135\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044135\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Janelle, 6, and Daniel, 4, a current student, play on the playground outside the Head Start in Hollister on June 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“How do I commit [to an employer] if I don’t know what’s gonna happen,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The situation is a fallout of cuts the Trump administration made to the federal workforce, including people who help administer Head Start grants to school districts, nonprofits and other agencies that operate the early childhood education program, said Ed Condon, executive director of the Region 9 Head Start Association, which represents agencies serving Head Start families in the western U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said ever since the Health and Human Services department \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035966/i-know-the-power-of-head-start-laid-off-worker-fears-for-programs-future\">closed half of its regional centers\u003c/a>, including one in San Francisco, local programs have faced long delays in getting help and receiving payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are in contact with people from all over the country, and this very unnecessary disruption and uncertainty has all been generated from the regional office consolidation,” Condon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044138\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044138\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Corchado reads to Janelle, 6, on June 10, 2025, outside of the school. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But he said he has also seen the government come through with funding at the last minute, allowing Head Start programs to keep going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not typical, and it creates a lot of angst for staff and parents in particular, but I think the most harmed are staff because they are left without the reality of a job,” Condon said\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Administration of Children and Families, which oversees Head Start and other childcare and child welfare programs, told KQED it’s processing the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s grant application and that funding “is being awarded as expeditiously as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, teachers must clean out their classrooms and wait to hear their fate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We hope that we get some good news during the summertime and we can come back and keep serving a lot of families,” Orozco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044140\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044140\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Corchado speaks to a community member while leaving flyers at local businesses on June 10, 2025, to help ensure preschool classes stay full. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Staffers like Maria Corchado said she planned to continue scouting for families with young kids at playgrounds, medical clinics, laundromats and resource centers around Hollister to tell them about Head Start and help them enroll in the program, should it receive more funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I promised [the teachers], ‘hey, you guys go on break and I’m going to look for the kids that you need to fill the classrooms in the fall,’” Corchado said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a parent advocate, Corchado likens her job to being a last-resort safety net for families. She leads classes on financial literacy, mental health awareness and ways to support children as they transition to TK or kindergarten. As part of that, she ensures children undergo dental and health checkups before they enter public schools — going as far as helping parents make appointments and finding transportation to the closest pediatric dentist in Salinas, 25 miles away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said losing Head Start would hurt working-class families who are already bracing for cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, better known as CalFresh in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be harder for them to find medical facilities that will take them, and now they may not have a place to take their kids,” Corchado said. “It’s scary for a lot of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "With funding running out on June 30 and no word on a new grant, parents and staff at a Head Start center in Hollister don’t know if they’ll have a classroom or job to return to in the fall.",
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"title": "Layoff Threats Weigh on Head Start Teachers and Parents in Hollister | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In a park steps away from their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> classrooms in Hollister, a group of kids marked the end of their preschool year with a moving-up ceremony. They wore colorful caps and gowns as they were called, one by one, to a balloon archway to receive their certificate of achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kids who are going to kindergarten were born during the pandemic. Though some of them had a challenging start to preschool, their teacher, Maricela Orozco, said they had the social-emotional skills for the next stage of schooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re more than ready, I can say that, for elementary,” Orozco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But parents of 4-year-olds who just finished one year of preschool thought their kids would spend another year at Head Start, which uses federal funds to provide educational and other services to lower-income families with children up to 5 years old. They’re upset that the Santa Clara County Office of Education, which runs the Head Start center in this rural community 45 miles southeast of San José, still hasn’t gotten its $38 million federal grant renewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without that guarantee, \u003ca href=\"https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:1b080735-7d1a-4549-bfac-3918fab447ac?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover\">combined with reduced or expired funding\u003c/a> that supported the office’s early learning, migrant education and special education services, nearly 275 workers will be laid off June 30. Some 1200 families enrolled in Head Start will have to look for another child care option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044137\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044137\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Corchado, a Head Start teacher in Hollister, San Benito County, sits with parents and students outside the school on June 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Hollister, where 10% of the population lives below the poverty line, parents rely on Head Start for full-time child care while they go to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very frustrating, it’s very hard. Just not knowing has been rough for us,” Vanessa Hernandez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her son, Daniel, is old enough to begin transitional kindergarten at an elementary school, but Hernandez said he could benefit from another year at Head Start, where classroom sizes are smaller and students and their parents get more individualized support.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“With Head Start, you get more time to grow and become more social. In TK, they already expect that of you,” she said. “He needs to be here longer because without the teachers helping him, I don’t know that he’ll succeed for the coming years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evelyn Melchor said when her son started at Head Start, he only spoke Spanish and had a hard time communicating with teachers and classmates. But after his first full year of preschool, Melchor said her son “has done a complete 360.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I ask him how he’s doing, how his day went, whatever he’s going through, he’s able to tell me everything in English and in Spanish,” she said. “Developmentally, so many things have just changed, and to me, it’s the best thing that could have happened to us.\u003cem>”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melchor was also counting on sending her younger son to Head Start when he’s old enough to enroll next year, so she could go back to work as a medical assistant. She said she stopped working when she had her second child because she couldn’t keep up with the rising cost of child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We did take a hit financially, and it’s been rough,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The uncertainty of the Head Start program in Hollister makes it hard for Melchor to plan for her own future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044135\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044135\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Janelle, 6, and Daniel, 4, a current student, play on the playground outside the Head Start in Hollister on June 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“How do I commit [to an employer] if I don’t know what’s gonna happen,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The situation is a fallout of cuts the Trump administration made to the federal workforce, including people who help administer Head Start grants to school districts, nonprofits and other agencies that operate the early childhood education program, said Ed Condon, executive director of the Region 9 Head Start Association, which represents agencies serving Head Start families in the western U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said ever since the Health and Human Services department \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035966/i-know-the-power-of-head-start-laid-off-worker-fears-for-programs-future\">closed half of its regional centers\u003c/a>, including one in San Francisco, local programs have faced long delays in getting help and receiving payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are in contact with people from all over the country, and this very unnecessary disruption and uncertainty has all been generated from the regional office consolidation,” Condon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044138\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044138\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Corchado reads to Janelle, 6, on June 10, 2025, outside of the school. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But he said he has also seen the government come through with funding at the last minute, allowing Head Start programs to keep going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not typical, and it creates a lot of angst for staff and parents in particular, but I think the most harmed are staff because they are left without the reality of a job,” Condon said\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Administration of Children and Families, which oversees Head Start and other childcare and child welfare programs, told KQED it’s processing the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s grant application and that funding “is being awarded as expeditiously as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, teachers must clean out their classrooms and wait to hear their fate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We hope that we get some good news during the summertime and we can come back and keep serving a lot of families,” Orozco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044140\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044140\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Corchado speaks to a community member while leaving flyers at local businesses on June 10, 2025, to help ensure preschool classes stay full. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Staffers like Maria Corchado said she planned to continue scouting for families with young kids at playgrounds, medical clinics, laundromats and resource centers around Hollister to tell them about Head Start and help them enroll in the program, should it receive more funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I promised [the teachers], ‘hey, you guys go on break and I’m going to look for the kids that you need to fill the classrooms in the fall,’” Corchado said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a parent advocate, Corchado likens her job to being a last-resort safety net for families. She leads classes on financial literacy, mental health awareness and ways to support children as they transition to TK or kindergarten. As part of that, she ensures children undergo dental and health checkups before they enter public schools — going as far as helping parents make appointments and finding transportation to the closest pediatric dentist in Salinas, 25 miles away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said losing Head Start would hurt working-class families who are already bracing for cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, better known as CalFresh in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be harder for them to find medical facilities that will take them, and now they may not have a place to take their kids,” Corchado said. “It’s scary for a lot of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "child-care-advocates-denounce-head-start-layoffs-in-santa-clara-county",
"title": "Child Care Advocates Denounce Head Start Layoffs in Santa Clara County",
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"headTitle": "Child Care Advocates Denounce Head Start Layoffs in Santa Clara County | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Several dozen child care providers and advocates rallied Monday outside the federal building in San José to call on Congress to protect \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038904/hundreds-of-pink-slips-prompt-california-lawmakers-to-warn-of-threats-to-head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> and other programs that support low-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t you dare cut child care!” they chanted as they marched from the building to a nearby park to mark A Day Without Child Care. A handful of childcare providers closed their doors to attend the rally, but there was little evidence of a widespread work stoppage, as national organizers of the event have urged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates used the occasion to denounce the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s decision to lay off more than 250 teachers and staffers and effectively shut services to low-income children enrolled in its Early Head Start, Head Start, migrant education and special education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early Head Start provides care for kids from birth to 3 years old, and Head Start serves kids between 3 and 5 years old. The county serves more than 1,200 families in Santa Clara and San Benito counties, as well as migrant families who live in other Bay Area counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SCCOE has cited federal funding uncertainties as the reason for the layoffs. Jennifer Gravem, a spokeswoman for the office, said it has not heard whether its grants to operate Early Head Start, Head Start and the migrant education programs, which are set to expire on June 30, will be renewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039811\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12039811 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clarissa Doutherd speaks at the Day Without Child Care rally in front of the Federal Building in San José on May 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If grants are reduced or eliminated, SCCOE will be unable to sustain these programs,” she said in a statement to KQED last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means some of the families enrolled in Head Start’s year-round programs won’t have any child care starting July 1, said Veronica Arellano, who has spent 19 years working as a family advocate at Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been very nerve-racking and stressful for myself, but more so for our families that really depend on it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Head Start funding has been delayed since the Trump administration closed several regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035966/i-know-the-power-of-head-start-laid-off-worker-fears-for-programs-future\">including one in San Francisco\u003c/a>, and laid off federal workers who support Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12038904 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a consequence, the SEIU union locals that represent many Head Start workers in California said at least 1,000 of their members have gotten or expect to receive pink slips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Union workers are calling on the SCCOE to rescind the layoff notices before they go into effect May 25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mercedes Hill, who helps administer Head Start for the SCCOE, pointed out that the Merced County Office of Education has decided to continue paying its workers while it waits for the federal government to renew its Head Start grant, which is also up for renewal soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hill said she and her coworkers are “fairly certain” the grant will come through because the county has received funding to operate Head Start for the past 60 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just demoralizing to the staff. We just don’t know what we’re going to do come July 1,” she said. “ The potential break in service would be devastating, even if it’s for a day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039812\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12039812 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diane Nguyen (left) and Yadira Orozco (center) hold their children at the Day Without Child Care rally in front of the Federal Building in San José on May 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Diane Nguyen, a parent who sends her 4-year-old son to a Head Start center in San José, said if she loses child care, she would have to put her pursuit of a nursing degree on hold. Nguyen credited the teachers and staff at Head Start for supporting her and her son as they coped with the deaths of her mom and best friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Head Start is not just another childcare to me, it’s family — the family advocates, the teachers, they’re not just teachers and family advocates. They’re a second mom or an auntie,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/rcooke\">Riley Cooke\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "On the 4th annual Day Without Childcare, advocates rallied to denounce the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s decision to lay off more than 250 teachers and staffers.",
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"title": "Child Care Advocates Denounce Head Start Layoffs in Santa Clara County | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Several dozen child care providers and advocates rallied Monday outside the federal building in San José to call on Congress to protect \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038904/hundreds-of-pink-slips-prompt-california-lawmakers-to-warn-of-threats-to-head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> and other programs that support low-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t you dare cut child care!” they chanted as they marched from the building to a nearby park to mark A Day Without Child Care. A handful of childcare providers closed their doors to attend the rally, but there was little evidence of a widespread work stoppage, as national organizers of the event have urged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates used the occasion to denounce the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s decision to lay off more than 250 teachers and staffers and effectively shut services to low-income children enrolled in its Early Head Start, Head Start, migrant education and special education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early Head Start provides care for kids from birth to 3 years old, and Head Start serves kids between 3 and 5 years old. The county serves more than 1,200 families in Santa Clara and San Benito counties, as well as migrant families who live in other Bay Area counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SCCOE has cited federal funding uncertainties as the reason for the layoffs. Jennifer Gravem, a spokeswoman for the office, said it has not heard whether its grants to operate Early Head Start, Head Start and the migrant education programs, which are set to expire on June 30, will be renewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039811\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12039811 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clarissa Doutherd speaks at the Day Without Child Care rally in front of the Federal Building in San José on May 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If grants are reduced or eliminated, SCCOE will be unable to sustain these programs,” she said in a statement to KQED last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means some of the families enrolled in Head Start’s year-round programs won’t have any child care starting July 1, said Veronica Arellano, who has spent 19 years working as a family advocate at Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been very nerve-racking and stressful for myself, but more so for our families that really depend on it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Head Start funding has been delayed since the Trump administration closed several regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035966/i-know-the-power-of-head-start-laid-off-worker-fears-for-programs-future\">including one in San Francisco\u003c/a>, and laid off federal workers who support Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a consequence, the SEIU union locals that represent many Head Start workers in California said at least 1,000 of their members have gotten or expect to receive pink slips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Union workers are calling on the SCCOE to rescind the layoff notices before they go into effect May 25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mercedes Hill, who helps administer Head Start for the SCCOE, pointed out that the Merced County Office of Education has decided to continue paying its workers while it waits for the federal government to renew its Head Start grant, which is also up for renewal soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hill said she and her coworkers are “fairly certain” the grant will come through because the county has received funding to operate Head Start for the past 60 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just demoralizing to the staff. We just don’t know what we’re going to do come July 1,” she said. “ The potential break in service would be devastating, even if it’s for a day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039812\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12039812 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diane Nguyen (left) and Yadira Orozco (center) hold their children at the Day Without Child Care rally in front of the Federal Building in San José on May 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Diane Nguyen, a parent who sends her 4-year-old son to a Head Start center in San José, said if she loses child care, she would have to put her pursuit of a nursing degree on hold. Nguyen credited the teachers and staff at Head Start for supporting her and her son as they coped with the deaths of her mom and best friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Head Start is not just another childcare to me, it’s family — the family advocates, the teachers, they’re not just teachers and family advocates. They’re a second mom or an auntie,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/rcooke\">Riley Cooke\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "hundreds-of-pink-slips-prompt-california-lawmakers-to-warn-of-threats-to-head-start",
"title": "Hundreds of Pink Slips Prompt California Lawmakers to Warn of Threats to Head Start",
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"headTitle": "Hundreds of Pink Slips Prompt California Lawmakers to Warn of Threats to Head Start | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>At least 1,000 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> teachers and staff members across California have received pink slips due to federal funding uncertainties, according to state lawmakers who warned Tuesday that cuts to the early childhood education program will damage the state’s economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://nhsa.org/press_release/statement-from-the-national-head-start-association-on-white-house-budget-recommendations/\">did not eliminate funding to Head Start in its 2026 budget proposal\u003c/a> released last week, teachers, families and advocates are worried about the stability of the program, which uses federal funds to provide educational and other services to low-income families with children up to 5 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some funding has been delayed since the administration closed several regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035966/i-know-the-power-of-head-start-laid-off-worker-fears-for-programs-future\">including one in San Francisco\u003c/a>, and laid off federal workers who support the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m really thankful that the president’s budget doesn’t suggest cuts to Head Start, but the administration was discussing entirely eliminating this program, and the administration and Congress are planning massive cuts to the federal government spending, many of which have yet to be detailed,” said Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens (D–Sunnyvale), who noted that some of the Head Start workers who received pink slips are in his Silicon Valley district.\u003ca href=\"https://www.paloaltoonline.com/education/2025/03/19/santa-clara-county-cuts-early-education-program/\"> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was referring to the \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-cuts-early-education-program/\">Santa Clara County Office of Education’s decision\u003c/a> to warn employees that their jobs were at risk because the federal government had yet to indicate whether it would reinstate the office’s Head Start grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036030\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036030\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children ride bicycles in the playground at a Head Start program in American Canyon, California, on Feb. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s not clear exactly how many employees received pink slips across the state, but the SEIU union locals that represent many Head Start workers in California said about 1,000 of their members have gotten or expect to receive a termination notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, more than three-quarters of the Legislature signed a bipartisan letter urging California’s congressional delegation to protect funding for Head Start, Ahrens said. The letter noted that school districts and nonprofits in California receive $1.5 billion in federal funding each year to operate local Head Start programs that serve more than 80,000 children and employ nearly 27,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12037453 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That money supports not only early education and family services, but thousands of jobs, child care providers, bus drivers, cooks, support staff, many of them right here in rural areas where employment opportunities are already limited,” said Assemblymember Heather Hadwick (R–Modoc County), who said cuts to Head Start would devastate the rural communities she represents in far Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hadwick said she attended a Head Start center when she was raised by a single mother and called the program “a lifeline” for her family. She said the center was a safe place for her to learn and grow, which gave her mom peace of mind while she worked two jobs to make a living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I fully believe that we need to cut our budget and cut waste,” she said. “I just hope that we don’t do that on the backs of our low-income working families and our children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027906/local-head-start-program-scrambles-to-keep-supporting-kids-amid-trumps-funding-freezes\">Head Start funding\u003c/a> is also critical to school districts and other agencies that use it to supplement California State Preschool and other publicly funded child care programs. Cuts to Head Start funds could lead to reduced child care hours for those programs, said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California, an association of Head Start grant recipients in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "At least 1,000 Head Start teachers and staff members across California have received termination notices due to federal funding uncertainties, state lawmakers said. \r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At least 1,000 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> teachers and staff members across California have received pink slips due to federal funding uncertainties, according to state lawmakers who warned Tuesday that cuts to the early childhood education program will damage the state’s economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://nhsa.org/press_release/statement-from-the-national-head-start-association-on-white-house-budget-recommendations/\">did not eliminate funding to Head Start in its 2026 budget proposal\u003c/a> released last week, teachers, families and advocates are worried about the stability of the program, which uses federal funds to provide educational and other services to low-income families with children up to 5 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some funding has been delayed since the administration closed several regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035966/i-know-the-power-of-head-start-laid-off-worker-fears-for-programs-future\">including one in San Francisco\u003c/a>, and laid off federal workers who support the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m really thankful that the president’s budget doesn’t suggest cuts to Head Start, but the administration was discussing entirely eliminating this program, and the administration and Congress are planning massive cuts to the federal government spending, many of which have yet to be detailed,” said Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens (D–Sunnyvale), who noted that some of the Head Start workers who received pink slips are in his Silicon Valley district.\u003ca href=\"https://www.paloaltoonline.com/education/2025/03/19/santa-clara-county-cuts-early-education-program/\"> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was referring to the \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-cuts-early-education-program/\">Santa Clara County Office of Education’s decision\u003c/a> to warn employees that their jobs were at risk because the federal government had yet to indicate whether it would reinstate the office’s Head Start grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036030\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036030\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children ride bicycles in the playground at a Head Start program in American Canyon, California, on Feb. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s not clear exactly how many employees received pink slips across the state, but the SEIU union locals that represent many Head Start workers in California said about 1,000 of their members have gotten or expect to receive a termination notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, more than three-quarters of the Legislature signed a bipartisan letter urging California’s congressional delegation to protect funding for Head Start, Ahrens said. The letter noted that school districts and nonprofits in California receive $1.5 billion in federal funding each year to operate local Head Start programs that serve more than 80,000 children and employ nearly 27,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That money supports not only early education and family services, but thousands of jobs, child care providers, bus drivers, cooks, support staff, many of them right here in rural areas where employment opportunities are already limited,” said Assemblymember Heather Hadwick (R–Modoc County), who said cuts to Head Start would devastate the rural communities she represents in far Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hadwick said she attended a Head Start center when she was raised by a single mother and called the program “a lifeline” for her family. She said the center was a safe place for her to learn and grow, which gave her mom peace of mind while she worked two jobs to make a living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I fully believe that we need to cut our budget and cut waste,” she said. “I just hope that we don’t do that on the backs of our low-income working families and our children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027906/local-head-start-program-scrambles-to-keep-supporting-kids-amid-trumps-funding-freezes\">Head Start funding\u003c/a> is also critical to school districts and other agencies that use it to supplement California State Preschool and other publicly funded child care programs. Cuts to Head Start funds could lead to reduced child care hours for those programs, said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California, an association of Head Start grant recipients in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Head Start was founded 60 years ago to help America’s poorest families break the cycle of poverty. Now, it’s one of many federal programs that the Trump administration wants to reduce or cut altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s Daisy Nguyen tells the story of one federal employee in the Bay Area who was laid off from Head Start — and how the program changed her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC4825482944&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ci>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/i>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:25] \u003c/em>Birdie Winrow is a laid-off federal worker. She lives in the East Bay. I was introduced to Birdie because I’ve been covering a number of problems for Head Start since President Trump took office. And she wanted to talk to me about the impact of losing a job that she was really excited to have and just her concerns about the ongoing threats to a program that has really changed her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:50] \u003c/em>I’ve always been very passionate about Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:53] \u003c/em>She was working at Head Start’s regional office in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:58] \u003c/em>I’ve done the work from the program perspective, but I wanted to learn more because I wanted it to serve more if that makes sense from a holistic perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:05] \u003c/em>She started not too long ago, back in January, so she was considered a probationary worker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:11] \u003c/em>But it was a Thursday, I was watching the news, and I heard that probationary workers were being let go. And I’m like, oh, I’m a probationary worker. And so I was kind of concerned about it at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:23] \u003c/em>And then she abruptly lost her job beginning of April when the Department of Health and Human Services decided to close the office in which she worked at as part of its effort to downsize the government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:40] \u003c/em>What was Bertie’s reaction at the time to her being laid off?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:46] \u003c/em>She was disappointed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:49] \u003c/em>There are a lot of hearts that are broken right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:51] \u003c/em>This was a job she had long wanted to have. She was really trying to make an impact. And she was also on the verge of buying a house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:03] \u003c/em>My appraisal was going to happen. And soon as I got a message that, you know, it may be me, I pulled out of the contract in that same moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:16] \u003c/em>The seller was even willing to sell it to her below asking price and she had to walk away from the deal\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:23] \u003c/em>It took me three years just to get to this point to buy a house. I was really sad about it, but yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:33] \u003c/em>That’s devastating, Daisy. I mean, this is a program that Bertie herself has relied on. I mean tell me a little bit more about this program Head Start. What is it exactly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:46] \u003c/em>It was founded 60 years ago to help America’s poorest families break the cycle of poverty by caring for the kids while also helping their parents do better. Head Start is appropriated by Congress, but it’s run by local schools and nonprofits. So in California, Head Start grant recipients serve more than 80,000 low-income kids, and those recipients receive about a billion and a half dollars. I think most people think of Head Start as like a preschool early education program, but advocates and people who’ve experienced it say it’s more than just a preschool program. It provides meals for the kids, health screenings, and it supports parents in many different ways depending on where you are, like if you’re in a rural area, there’s a program call it Migrant Head Start program that serves. You know, seasonal workers. There’s early head start, which is for babies, infants to three-year-olds. There’s home visit programs where parents of newborns receive visitors into their home to get just advice on caregiving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:08] \u003c/em>And it turns out that Birdie, who was recently laid off from Head Start, also benefited from Headstart herself. What was Birdie’s experience with Head Start back in the day?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:19] \u003c/em>Yeah, she told me that she was a 19 year old mom of two living in San Francisco. She was relying on public assistance to get by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:31] \u003c/em>I want to be self-sufficient and but the only way I could do that is I had to put my babies in care\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:37] \u003c/em>She didn’t know anything about Head Start when she started that, because she told me she was raised by her grandmother. She never went to daycare. And so Head Start’s two-generation approach to uplifting families was just really eye-opening for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:52] \u003c/em>So a young mom with two kids, I wanted them to go to school so that I can go to work. And so that was my intention because I wanted to do more with myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:02] \u003c/em>When she went to enroll her son in a Head Start program in the Bayview, Hunters Point neighborhood. Someone at Head Start told her that her son had to undergo a dental exam as part of the enrollment process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:17] \u003c/em>And so for my teenage mind, I was like, he had to go to a dentist. Like, I don’t even brush his teeth every day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:24] \u003c/em>And that really was surprising for her because up to that point, she had never brought him to the dentist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:31] \u003c/em>I took him to Western Dental, it was in the Mission District. We were there all day. But nonetheless, that was my beginning of loving Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:42] \u003c/em>That moment was just sort of a light bulb moment for her. It made her become more aware of healthy child development. And it made her step up her parenting skills. Her three-year-old son at the time got child care. And she was able to go find work. And that was sort of the beginning of her journey. She was able pursue a career in social work and early childhood education. She kept on working while earning her college degrees. And then About 15 years ago she went back to Head Start to work in various jobs at Head Start, starting with being a toddler teacher and moving her way up to becoming a manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:25] \u003c/em>Yeah, it sounds like this personal history with the program is really what drove her to kind of give back. \u003cem> [00:08:31]\u003c/em>\u003cem>[6.2]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:32] \u003c/em>Yeah, exactly. She was very passionate about that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:37] \u003c/em>My grandchildren have all been through either Early Head Start and Head Start or Early Head Start. My family has all touched it in some form or fashion. If you truly use the resources and the tools that Head Start provides, you can be any\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:09:03] \u003c/em>Coming up, how the Trump administration’s layoffs are affecting Head Start, and why advocates fear there could be even more to come. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:06] \u003c/em>Well, Daisy, going back to these layoffs happening at Head Start, there have been two rounds of layoffs so far that have affected this program, the latest happening on April 1st, which is when Birdie got laid off. What kind of impact have these layoff had on the program so far?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:26] \u003c/em>Where Birdie worked she was among a staff of at least 15 people, maybe 18. They were serving as regional contacts for hit start programs throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Outer Pacific. So without this staff, these programs in these states, they don’t really know who to turn to if they have a question or if they need their grants renewed. Or if they need someone just to approve spending for things like replacing a playground or a child care center that was destroyed by a wildfire. I heard that example for one program in Altadena. Oh, wow. They’ve been told by the Department of Health and Human Services that they could go to some portal and submit questions, and those questions will be monitored by someone in the central office in Washington. I think it’s just causing a slowdown. And it’s hindering these local programs’ ability to conduct business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:36] \u003c/em>I mean, this might not be the last of these layoffs. What is the fear, I guess, moving forward here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:46] \u003c/em>There’s been widespread reporting that the White House wants to completely defund the program in the next budget. There’s a draft budget proposal that calls for eliminating Head Start. Project 2025 has called for doing that. And the main architect of that conservative policy blueprint is now the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. The conservative thinkers behind this policy say that the federal government shouldn’t be involved in child care programming. So, you know, it’s sparking a lot of concern because Head Start has such an important presence in California. In fact, the state receives $1.5 billion in Head Start funds to serve these low-income families. And in California, I was told about 75% of Head Start grant recipients lend state funding for preschool and child care with Head Start funding just so they can run their programs. So if you were to take away the federal funds Like these programs may have to like cut staff or shorten their days. So that’s gonna be a problem for a lot of working parents because, you know, having their child in full care, full-time care is what enables them to go to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:11] \u003c/em>Coming back to Birdie here, Daisy, I mean, it sounds like her life has been incredibly affected by losing her job. I mean she couldn’t buy this home that she was really excited to buy. I mean what is she up to now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:25] \u003c/em>So she’s taking some time to take care of herself. She’s spending time with her grandkids and she’s trying to figure out her next step.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:32] \u003c/em>I want to make sure that my glass is full so that I can continue to pour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:37] \u003c/em>She also is continuing to teach at community colleges. And she’s just telling me that she’s trying to figure out how to advocate for Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:50] \u003c/em>I’m a living example of why Head Start matters and why Head start is important. Not only because I worked there, but a lot of times Head Start people continue. So they start off maybe as a child or they may start off as a parent, but in the end they give.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:12] \u003c/em>Six of her grandkids have gone through Head Start II, and she just wonders, like, what’s gonna happen to the kids who come behind them? Like, will they get the same benefits?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:22] \u003c/em>About those 16 children in that classroom and them having a place to come to, to sleep, to eat, to rest, to be, that’s my concern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:41] \u003c/em>Well, Daisy, thank you so much for sharing your reporting with us. I appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:45] \u003c/em>Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Head Start was founded 60 years ago to help America’s poorest families break the cycle of poverty. Now, it’s one of many federal programs that the Trump administration wants to reduce or cut altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s Daisy Nguyen tells the story of one federal employee in the Bay Area who was laid off from Head Start — and how the program changed her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC4825482944&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ci>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/i>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:25] \u003c/em>Birdie Winrow is a laid-off federal worker. She lives in the East Bay. I was introduced to Birdie because I’ve been covering a number of problems for Head Start since President Trump took office. And she wanted to talk to me about the impact of losing a job that she was really excited to have and just her concerns about the ongoing threats to a program that has really changed her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:50] \u003c/em>I’ve always been very passionate about Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:53] \u003c/em>She was working at Head Start’s regional office in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:58] \u003c/em>I’ve done the work from the program perspective, but I wanted to learn more because I wanted it to serve more if that makes sense from a holistic perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:05] \u003c/em>She started not too long ago, back in January, so she was considered a probationary worker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:11] \u003c/em>But it was a Thursday, I was watching the news, and I heard that probationary workers were being let go. And I’m like, oh, I’m a probationary worker. And so I was kind of concerned about it at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:23] \u003c/em>And then she abruptly lost her job beginning of April when the Department of Health and Human Services decided to close the office in which she worked at as part of its effort to downsize the government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:40] \u003c/em>What was Bertie’s reaction at the time to her being laid off?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:46] \u003c/em>She was disappointed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:49] \u003c/em>There are a lot of hearts that are broken right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:51] \u003c/em>This was a job she had long wanted to have. She was really trying to make an impact. And she was also on the verge of buying a house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:03] \u003c/em>My appraisal was going to happen. And soon as I got a message that, you know, it may be me, I pulled out of the contract in that same moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:16] \u003c/em>The seller was even willing to sell it to her below asking price and she had to walk away from the deal\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:23] \u003c/em>It took me three years just to get to this point to buy a house. I was really sad about it, but yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:33] \u003c/em>That’s devastating, Daisy. I mean, this is a program that Bertie herself has relied on. I mean tell me a little bit more about this program Head Start. What is it exactly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:46] \u003c/em>It was founded 60 years ago to help America’s poorest families break the cycle of poverty by caring for the kids while also helping their parents do better. Head Start is appropriated by Congress, but it’s run by local schools and nonprofits. So in California, Head Start grant recipients serve more than 80,000 low-income kids, and those recipients receive about a billion and a half dollars. I think most people think of Head Start as like a preschool early education program, but advocates and people who’ve experienced it say it’s more than just a preschool program. It provides meals for the kids, health screenings, and it supports parents in many different ways depending on where you are, like if you’re in a rural area, there’s a program call it Migrant Head Start program that serves. You know, seasonal workers. There’s early head start, which is for babies, infants to three-year-olds. There’s home visit programs where parents of newborns receive visitors into their home to get just advice on caregiving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:08] \u003c/em>And it turns out that Birdie, who was recently laid off from Head Start, also benefited from Headstart herself. What was Birdie’s experience with Head Start back in the day?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:19] \u003c/em>Yeah, she told me that she was a 19 year old mom of two living in San Francisco. She was relying on public assistance to get by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:31] \u003c/em>I want to be self-sufficient and but the only way I could do that is I had to put my babies in care\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:37] \u003c/em>She didn’t know anything about Head Start when she started that, because she told me she was raised by her grandmother. She never went to daycare. And so Head Start’s two-generation approach to uplifting families was just really eye-opening for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:52] \u003c/em>So a young mom with two kids, I wanted them to go to school so that I can go to work. And so that was my intention because I wanted to do more with myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:02] \u003c/em>When she went to enroll her son in a Head Start program in the Bayview, Hunters Point neighborhood. Someone at Head Start told her that her son had to undergo a dental exam as part of the enrollment process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:17] \u003c/em>And so for my teenage mind, I was like, he had to go to a dentist. Like, I don’t even brush his teeth every day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:24] \u003c/em>And that really was surprising for her because up to that point, she had never brought him to the dentist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:31] \u003c/em>I took him to Western Dental, it was in the Mission District. We were there all day. But nonetheless, that was my beginning of loving Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:42] \u003c/em>That moment was just sort of a light bulb moment for her. It made her become more aware of healthy child development. And it made her step up her parenting skills. Her three-year-old son at the time got child care. And she was able to go find work. And that was sort of the beginning of her journey. She was able pursue a career in social work and early childhood education. She kept on working while earning her college degrees. And then About 15 years ago she went back to Head Start to work in various jobs at Head Start, starting with being a toddler teacher and moving her way up to becoming a manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:25] \u003c/em>Yeah, it sounds like this personal history with the program is really what drove her to kind of give back. \u003cem> [00:08:31]\u003c/em>\u003cem>[6.2]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:32] \u003c/em>Yeah, exactly. She was very passionate about that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:37] \u003c/em>My grandchildren have all been through either Early Head Start and Head Start or Early Head Start. My family has all touched it in some form or fashion. If you truly use the resources and the tools that Head Start provides, you can be any\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:09:03] \u003c/em>Coming up, how the Trump administration’s layoffs are affecting Head Start, and why advocates fear there could be even more to come. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:06] \u003c/em>Well, Daisy, going back to these layoffs happening at Head Start, there have been two rounds of layoffs so far that have affected this program, the latest happening on April 1st, which is when Birdie got laid off. What kind of impact have these layoff had on the program so far?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:26] \u003c/em>Where Birdie worked she was among a staff of at least 15 people, maybe 18. They were serving as regional contacts for hit start programs throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Outer Pacific. So without this staff, these programs in these states, they don’t really know who to turn to if they have a question or if they need their grants renewed. Or if they need someone just to approve spending for things like replacing a playground or a child care center that was destroyed by a wildfire. I heard that example for one program in Altadena. Oh, wow. They’ve been told by the Department of Health and Human Services that they could go to some portal and submit questions, and those questions will be monitored by someone in the central office in Washington. I think it’s just causing a slowdown. And it’s hindering these local programs’ ability to conduct business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:36] \u003c/em>I mean, this might not be the last of these layoffs. What is the fear, I guess, moving forward here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:46] \u003c/em>There’s been widespread reporting that the White House wants to completely defund the program in the next budget. There’s a draft budget proposal that calls for eliminating Head Start. Project 2025 has called for doing that. And the main architect of that conservative policy blueprint is now the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. The conservative thinkers behind this policy say that the federal government shouldn’t be involved in child care programming. So, you know, it’s sparking a lot of concern because Head Start has such an important presence in California. In fact, the state receives $1.5 billion in Head Start funds to serve these low-income families. And in California, I was told about 75% of Head Start grant recipients lend state funding for preschool and child care with Head Start funding just so they can run their programs. So if you were to take away the federal funds Like these programs may have to like cut staff or shorten their days. So that’s gonna be a problem for a lot of working parents because, you know, having their child in full care, full-time care is what enables them to go to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:11] \u003c/em>Coming back to Birdie here, Daisy, I mean, it sounds like her life has been incredibly affected by losing her job. I mean she couldn’t buy this home that she was really excited to buy. I mean what is she up to now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:25] \u003c/em>So she’s taking some time to take care of herself. She’s spending time with her grandkids and she’s trying to figure out her next step.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:32] \u003c/em>I want to make sure that my glass is full so that I can continue to pour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:37] \u003c/em>She also is continuing to teach at community colleges. And she’s just telling me that she’s trying to figure out how to advocate for Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:50] \u003c/em>I’m a living example of why Head Start matters and why Head start is important. Not only because I worked there, but a lot of times Head Start people continue. So they start off maybe as a child or they may start off as a parent, but in the end they give.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:12] \u003c/em>Six of her grandkids have gone through Head Start II, and she just wonders, like, what’s gonna happen to the kids who come behind them? Like, will they get the same benefits?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:22] \u003c/em>About those 16 children in that classroom and them having a place to come to, to sleep, to eat, to rest, to be, that’s my concern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:41] \u003c/em>Well, Daisy, thank you so much for sharing your reporting with us. I appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:45] \u003c/em>Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Birdie Winrow was on the verge of buying a home when the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Trump\u003c/a> administration began firing federal workers as part of its push to downsize the government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winrow, 48, had only been working at the Office of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a>’s regional office in San Francisco for a month. Although she was spared in the first round of cuts, she sensed that more were on the way, prompting her to walk away from what she described as a sweet deal. The owner was willing to sell her the house in the East Bay city of Antioch below the asking price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had been saving for three years to get to this point to buy a house, and so I was really sad about it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a devastating loss for Winrow. The house would’ve been a dream realized through hard work, and with the help of Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She first heard about the federal program nearly 30 years ago, when she was a 19-year-old mom raising two kids in San Francisco. She relied on government assistance programs to get by but was ready to get off welfare and move on with her life. So she enrolled her 3-year-old son at a Head Start center in the Bayview-Hunter’s Point neighborhood so she could look for a job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12035957\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12035957\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Birdie Winrow in San Leandro on April 14, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A worker at the Head Start center told Winrow her son had to undergo a dental exam as part of the enrollment process. That prompted Winrow to take her son to his first dental checkup and to improve her parenting skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was a really profound moment in my teenage mom life to say, ‘Oh, I need to actually brush my baby’s teeth every day, and I have to take him to the dentist,’” she said. “That was my beginning of loving Head Start.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care enabled her to pursue work at the San Francisco school district and a drug rehab center. She went on to have two more children, earned college and graduate degrees in human services and human development and established a career in social work and early childhood education.[aside postID=news_12027906 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-03-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']She also came back to Head Start to work in various roles, from teacher to manager of several programs in the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said her story is proof that Head Start works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal program was founded 60 years ago to help America’s poorest families break the cycle of poverty by delivering meals, developmental screenings, and an early education for children from birth to 5 years old while helping their parents pursue financial security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>I know the power of Head Start because I used the tools that Head Start gave me to be who I am today and have all of these opportunities that I’ve had,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winrow said she took the job at the regional office because she wanted to make a bigger impact by serving as a federal liaison to local Head Start programs in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and U.S. territories in the Pacific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on April 1, she abruptly lost her job when the Department of Health and Human Services shuttered half of its regional offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036030\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036030\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children ride bicycles in the playground at a Head Start program in American Canyon, California, on Feb. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Laurie Todd-Smith, deputy assistant secretary for Early Childhood Development at HHS, told Head Start providers by email that the government was consolidating 10 regional offices into five to save taxpayers’ money and that the move “will serve multiple goals without impacting critical services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Head Start providers, some of whom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027906/local-head-start-program-scrambles-to-keep-supporting-kids-amid-trumps-funding-freezes\">had problems accessing their funding after Trump took office\u003c/a>, are worried the elimination of the regional offices will delay the release of funds and hinder their ability to serve children and families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s very worrisome, in particular to our small nonprofits who by law, cannot keep a lot of cash on hand and by their nature, don’t have a cash flow,” said Ed Condon, executive director of the Region 9 Head Start Association, which represents 160 agencies serving more than 130,000 Head Start children and families in the western U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These nonprofits risk not being able to pay their staff or rent on time, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036037\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036037\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Head Start mobile classroom at Lincoln Square Park in Oakland on Friday, May 24, 2024. Last year, the city of Oakland introduced its “Ready, Set, Go” vehicle, an RV converted into a Head Start classroom, which travels to homeless shelters, providing educational and social services to families experiencing housing instability. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Firing workers at these regional offices eliminates expertise that took decades to build up, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Head Start providers have yet to receive a transition plan laying out who they should turn to for support. The email sent by Todd-Smith instructed them to submit urgent questions to an online system that the Office of Head Start staff would monitor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, staffing at the Administration of Children and Families, which oversees Head Start and other childcare and child welfare programs, dropped by 40% in just three months, according to a memo by former ACF staffers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re concerned the cuts are part of a bigger plan to get rid of Head Start, as outlined in Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint led by Russel Vought, who Trump appointed to run the White House Office of Management and Budget.[aside postID=news_12031853 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED-1020x680.jpg']At the San Francisco regional office, Winrow reviewed grant applications to ensure local agencies were meeting Head Start’s quality standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said her experiences at Head Start helped her understand the importance of targeting funds to serve the most vulnerable families, whether they’re experiencing homelessness or have a child with developmental delays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Federal workers are needed because they are directly connected to the recipients who serve our low-income families,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Besides the personal loss of her job and the home she hoped to buy, Winrow is concerned the latest cuts will weaken a program that has done so much for her and her family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Six of her grandkids have gone through Head Start too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wonders if the children who come behind them will get the same benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a living example of why Head Start matters and why Head Start is important — not only because I worked there, but a lot of times Head Start people … start off maybe as a child or they may start off as a parent, but in the end they give back,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Head Start programs worry that the closure of a federal office in San Francisco could create delays in getting funding requests approved — and weaken their support system.",
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"title": "‘I Know the Power of Head Start’: Laid-Off Worker Fears for the Program’s Future | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Birdie Winrow was on the verge of buying a home when the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Trump\u003c/a> administration began firing federal workers as part of its push to downsize the government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winrow, 48, had only been working at the Office of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a>’s regional office in San Francisco for a month. Although she was spared in the first round of cuts, she sensed that more were on the way, prompting her to walk away from what she described as a sweet deal. The owner was willing to sell her the house in the East Bay city of Antioch below the asking price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had been saving for three years to get to this point to buy a house, and so I was really sad about it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a devastating loss for Winrow. The house would’ve been a dream realized through hard work, and with the help of Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She first heard about the federal program nearly 30 years ago, when she was a 19-year-old mom raising two kids in San Francisco. She relied on government assistance programs to get by but was ready to get off welfare and move on with her life. So she enrolled her 3-year-old son at a Head Start center in the Bayview-Hunter’s Point neighborhood so she could look for a job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12035957\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12035957\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Birdie Winrow in San Leandro on April 14, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A worker at the Head Start center told Winrow her son had to undergo a dental exam as part of the enrollment process. That prompted Winrow to take her son to his first dental checkup and to improve her parenting skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was a really profound moment in my teenage mom life to say, ‘Oh, I need to actually brush my baby’s teeth every day, and I have to take him to the dentist,’” she said. “That was my beginning of loving Head Start.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care enabled her to pursue work at the San Francisco school district and a drug rehab center. She went on to have two more children, earned college and graduate degrees in human services and human development and established a career in social work and early childhood education.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She also came back to Head Start to work in various roles, from teacher to manager of several programs in the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said her story is proof that Head Start works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal program was founded 60 years ago to help America’s poorest families break the cycle of poverty by delivering meals, developmental screenings, and an early education for children from birth to 5 years old while helping their parents pursue financial security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>I know the power of Head Start because I used the tools that Head Start gave me to be who I am today and have all of these opportunities that I’ve had,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winrow said she took the job at the regional office because she wanted to make a bigger impact by serving as a federal liaison to local Head Start programs in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and U.S. territories in the Pacific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on April 1, she abruptly lost her job when the Department of Health and Human Services shuttered half of its regional offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036030\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036030\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children ride bicycles in the playground at a Head Start program in American Canyon, California, on Feb. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Laurie Todd-Smith, deputy assistant secretary for Early Childhood Development at HHS, told Head Start providers by email that the government was consolidating 10 regional offices into five to save taxpayers’ money and that the move “will serve multiple goals without impacting critical services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Head Start providers, some of whom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027906/local-head-start-program-scrambles-to-keep-supporting-kids-amid-trumps-funding-freezes\">had problems accessing their funding after Trump took office\u003c/a>, are worried the elimination of the regional offices will delay the release of funds and hinder their ability to serve children and families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s very worrisome, in particular to our small nonprofits who by law, cannot keep a lot of cash on hand and by their nature, don’t have a cash flow,” said Ed Condon, executive director of the Region 9 Head Start Association, which represents 160 agencies serving more than 130,000 Head Start children and families in the western U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These nonprofits risk not being able to pay their staff or rent on time, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036037\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036037\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Head Start mobile classroom at Lincoln Square Park in Oakland on Friday, May 24, 2024. Last year, the city of Oakland introduced its “Ready, Set, Go” vehicle, an RV converted into a Head Start classroom, which travels to homeless shelters, providing educational and social services to families experiencing housing instability. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Firing workers at these regional offices eliminates expertise that took decades to build up, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Head Start providers have yet to receive a transition plan laying out who they should turn to for support. The email sent by Todd-Smith instructed them to submit urgent questions to an online system that the Office of Head Start staff would monitor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, staffing at the Administration of Children and Families, which oversees Head Start and other childcare and child welfare programs, dropped by 40% in just three months, according to a memo by former ACF staffers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re concerned the cuts are part of a bigger plan to get rid of Head Start, as outlined in Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint led by Russel Vought, who Trump appointed to run the White House Office of Management and Budget.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At the San Francisco regional office, Winrow reviewed grant applications to ensure local agencies were meeting Head Start’s quality standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said her experiences at Head Start helped her understand the importance of targeting funds to serve the most vulnerable families, whether they’re experiencing homelessness or have a child with developmental delays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Federal workers are needed because they are directly connected to the recipients who serve our low-income families,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Besides the personal loss of her job and the home she hoped to buy, Winrow is concerned the latest cuts will weaken a program that has done so much for her and her family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Six of her grandkids have gone through Head Start too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wonders if the children who come behind them will get the same benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a living example of why Head Start matters and why Head Start is important — not only because I worked there, but a lot of times Head Start people … start off maybe as a child or they may start off as a parent, but in the end they give back,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "local-head-start-program-scrambles-to-keep-supporting-kids-amid-trumps-funding-freezes",
"title": "Local Head Start Program Scrambles to Keep Supporting Kids Amid Trump's Funding Freezes",
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"headTitle": "Local Head Start Program Scrambles to Keep Supporting Kids Amid Trump’s Funding Freezes | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>On the morning he learned the Trump administration had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026245/can-trump-actually-change-federal-funding-rules-through-executive-orders\">ordered a freeze on federal grant funding\u003c/a>, Juan Cisneros called an emergency meeting with the staff at Child Start Inc., which serves 800 Head Start children in Napa and Solano counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The end of January was approaching, and the nonprofit agency needed to recoup money it just spent to pay its 230 employees. However, when a fiscal officer tried several times to request reimbursements from a payment portal run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024321/california-head-start-programs-caught-up-in-trumps-funding-freeze\">they were blocked from accessing the system\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cisneros, Child Start’s executive director, said he had never experienced a funding disruption like this in his 27 years working with Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It seemed like an overnight implementation of an order that we just had no control over,” Cisneros said. “We had no backup plan. It just happened so suddenly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A White House memo announcing a funding pause to federal grants, loans and programs sparked worry that Child Start Inc. would have to close classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A payment came a day after a federal judge \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024387/california-22-other-states-sue-to-block-trumps-federal-funding-freeze\">temporarily blocked the funding freeze\u003c/a>, Cisneros said, but he’s worried about future funding delays because at least 45 Head Start grant recipients in other parts of California and states reported \u003ca href=\"https://nhsa.org/press_release/ongoing-issues-accessing-federal-grant-funds-continue-to-impact-head-start-programs/\">payment delays\u003c/a> more than a week after the judge’s order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Health and Human Services blamed the problem on “technical issues” with the payment portal, which has been fixed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have been no additional reports of payment delays among members of Head Start California, said the association’s executive director, Melanee Cottrill. However, she’s concerned that the firing of several dozen federal employees at the Administration for Children and Families, which oversees Head Start grants, will affect local programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027073\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027073\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Caregiver Briggit Cervantes works with children ages two to three at Vineyard Crossings Head Start in American Canyon on Feb. 13. Lower-income families rely on the center for child care while they work or look for a job. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This will mean delays in processing applications and providing technical assistance, which will impede our ability to serve children and families,” Cottrill said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The uncertainty prompted Cisneros to think about how to keep services going in the event of another funding disruption. He said he lost confidence in the payment system and thinks the Trump administration may make cuts to early childhood education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We expect that there’s going to be more, so we’re just trying to prepare and have a Plan B should something else happen,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child Start receives an annual $19 million grant to operate 17 child care and early education centers, but the grant is not paid out in a lump sum. Instead, it draws down about $800,000 from a federal account two times per month in order to pay rent, payroll, food and other operating expenses. Receiving those funds on time is important because it does not have a lot of reserve funds and isn’t allowed to use federal funds to pay late fees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need a system that’s up and running and reliable to be able to access those funds when we need them,” Cisneros said. “This is really the first time that the [payment] system wasn’t available, and it just felt like we were intentionally being denied access.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027072\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027072\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lead teacher Retchel Armas leads children in a painting exercise at Vineyard Crossings Head Start in American Canyon. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>News of the funding pause prompted board members of Child Start Inc. to consider spending cuts and work with local nonprofits to figure out how to leverage other sources of funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Employees and parents said they didn’t know how federal grants work until they were suddenly confronted with the prospect of losing their jobs and access to Head Start services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t know the logistics,” said Neale Losito, who directs one of Child Start’s early learning centers in American Canyon, a suburb located between Vallejo and Napa. “I thought we’re granted this much money, and we get it all at once. I didn’t know that we don’t have it, really.”[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='early-childhood-education-and-care']She said she’s worried about what might happen to the lower-income or homeless families who rely on her center for child care while they work or look for a job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to stay open so that the child can come to preschool, so mom can go to work. And if we’re suddenly cut off, there’s just a domino effect for everyone,” Losito said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents like Jovan Polk said the eight hours of care his 3-year-old son, Jayce, receives at the center each day enables him to work a full shift as a security guard. Polk said he and his wife don’t have relatives nearby to help with child care, and they can’t afford a babysitter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The hours are perfect. We can go to work and don’t have to worry about him,” Polk said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polk said his son’s social skills and speech have improved since he has been at the center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the kind of support that Cisneros — himself a product of a Head Start program for the children of migrant farm workers — said can make a huge difference for working-class families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Trump administration’s crackdown on federal spending is causing one Bay Area Head Start program to think about how to keep the early childhood education program going in the event of another funding disruption.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On the morning he learned the Trump administration had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026245/can-trump-actually-change-federal-funding-rules-through-executive-orders\">ordered a freeze on federal grant funding\u003c/a>, Juan Cisneros called an emergency meeting with the staff at Child Start Inc., which serves 800 Head Start children in Napa and Solano counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The end of January was approaching, and the nonprofit agency needed to recoup money it just spent to pay its 230 employees. However, when a fiscal officer tried several times to request reimbursements from a payment portal run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024321/california-head-start-programs-caught-up-in-trumps-funding-freeze\">they were blocked from accessing the system\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cisneros, Child Start’s executive director, said he had never experienced a funding disruption like this in his 27 years working with Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It seemed like an overnight implementation of an order that we just had no control over,” Cisneros said. “We had no backup plan. It just happened so suddenly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A White House memo announcing a funding pause to federal grants, loans and programs sparked worry that Child Start Inc. would have to close classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A payment came a day after a federal judge \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024387/california-22-other-states-sue-to-block-trumps-federal-funding-freeze\">temporarily blocked the funding freeze\u003c/a>, Cisneros said, but he’s worried about future funding delays because at least 45 Head Start grant recipients in other parts of California and states reported \u003ca href=\"https://nhsa.org/press_release/ongoing-issues-accessing-federal-grant-funds-continue-to-impact-head-start-programs/\">payment delays\u003c/a> more than a week after the judge’s order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Health and Human Services blamed the problem on “technical issues” with the payment portal, which has been fixed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have been no additional reports of payment delays among members of Head Start California, said the association’s executive director, Melanee Cottrill. However, she’s concerned that the firing of several dozen federal employees at the Administration for Children and Families, which oversees Head Start grants, will affect local programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027073\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027073\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-09-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Caregiver Briggit Cervantes works with children ages two to three at Vineyard Crossings Head Start in American Canyon on Feb. 13. Lower-income families rely on the center for child care while they work or look for a job. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This will mean delays in processing applications and providing technical assistance, which will impede our ability to serve children and families,” Cottrill said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The uncertainty prompted Cisneros to think about how to keep services going in the event of another funding disruption. He said he lost confidence in the payment system and thinks the Trump administration may make cuts to early childhood education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We expect that there’s going to be more, so we’re just trying to prepare and have a Plan B should something else happen,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child Start receives an annual $19 million grant to operate 17 child care and early education centers, but the grant is not paid out in a lump sum. Instead, it draws down about $800,000 from a federal account two times per month in order to pay rent, payroll, food and other operating expenses. Receiving those funds on time is important because it does not have a lot of reserve funds and isn’t allowed to use federal funds to pay late fees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need a system that’s up and running and reliable to be able to access those funds when we need them,” Cisneros said. “This is really the first time that the [payment] system wasn’t available, and it just felt like we were intentionally being denied access.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027072\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027072\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-04-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lead teacher Retchel Armas leads children in a painting exercise at Vineyard Crossings Head Start in American Canyon. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>News of the funding pause prompted board members of Child Start Inc. to consider spending cuts and work with local nonprofits to figure out how to leverage other sources of funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Employees and parents said they didn’t know how federal grants work until they were suddenly confronted with the prospect of losing their jobs and access to Head Start services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t know the logistics,” said Neale Losito, who directs one of Child Start’s early learning centers in American Canyon, a suburb located between Vallejo and Napa. “I thought we’re granted this much money, and we get it all at once. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She said she’s worried about what might happen to the lower-income or homeless families who rely on her center for child care while they work or look for a job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to stay open so that the child can come to preschool, so mom can go to work. And if we’re suddenly cut off, there’s just a domino effect for everyone,” Losito said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents like Jovan Polk said the eight hours of care his 3-year-old son, Jayce, receives at the center each day enables him to work a full shift as a security guard. Polk said he and his wife don’t have relatives nearby to help with child care, and they can’t afford a babysitter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The hours are perfect. We can go to work and don’t have to worry about him,” Polk said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polk said his son’s social skills and speech have improved since he has been at the center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the kind of support that Cisneros — himself a product of a Head Start program for the children of migrant farm workers — said can make a huge difference for working-class families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-head-start-programs-caught-up-in-trumps-funding-freeze",
"title": "California Head Start Programs Caught Up in Trump’s Funding Freeze",
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"headTitle": "California Head Start Programs Caught Up in Trump’s Funding Freeze | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Some \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> programs in California were swept up in the confusion over President Donald Trump’s directive to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans, reporting that they temporarily lost access to an online payment system on Tuesday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The programs regained access to funds after the White House insisted that its order doesn’t apply to child care, housing assistance and other vital programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump administration officials said the decision to pause federal funding was necessary to ensure that the spending aligns with the president’s priorities. However, a judge temporarily blocked the administration’s objective after a group of nonprofits and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024387/california-22-other-states-sue-to-block-trumps-federal-funding-freeze\">states, including California,\u003c/a> challenged the directive in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The turnaround capped a dramatic and stressful day for Head Start and other nonprofits across the country that receive funding from the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Head Start programs run on very tight budgets, and if they can’t draw those funds, they risk closing their doors in a matter of days, said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California, an association that serves up to 85,000 children in the early education program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11988306\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11988306\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut.jpg\" alt=\"Two mothers play with their young children on a green rug inside a classroom.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Families play with their children inside Oakland’s Head Start mobile classroom on May 24, 2024. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There are a couple of programs that I heard from this morning that did anticipate having to close their doors within a day or two if this pause was implemented,” Cottrill said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early childhood education advocates worry the confusion or uncertainty over Trump’s spending freeze will discourage families from enrolling in Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mary Ignatius, executive director of Parent Voices, said her grassroots organization often fields calls from parents anxious about the fate of their food, housing or child care assistance benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12018681 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/230601-MindShift-33-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to be able to provide some kind of hopeful assurance, but it’s very difficult to do that when the news is changing so rapidly,” Ignatius said. “It’s very difficult to understand what is the truth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said hearing about interruptions to the payment system gave her pause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was just thinking Congress had already passed funding for these programs, so does he even have the authority to do this,” she said, referring to the new president. “Hearing from folks who can’t access [the] Head Start payment system made me feel like, ‘oh wait, actually maybe there are some teeth to this,’” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal Office of Head Start also sent out an email on Tuesday morning saying it was ordered not to communicate with anyone externally. For Donna Sneeringer, vice president and chief strategy officer for Child Care Resource Center, an early education and care agency in Southern California, it seemed similar to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/cdc-who-trump-548cf18b1c409c7d22e17311ccdfe1f6\">a memo American public health officials received last week, ordering them to stop working with the World Health Organization\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that this is a dangerous precedent to not allow organizations like ours, who do business with the government, to communicate and understand the parameters [of the funding freeze],” Sneeringer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And just to have it shut down has tremendous ripple effects that I don’t think have been really thought out,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Some \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> programs in California were swept up in the confusion over President Donald Trump’s directive to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans, reporting that they temporarily lost access to an online payment system on Tuesday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The programs regained access to funds after the White House insisted that its order doesn’t apply to child care, housing assistance and other vital programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump administration officials said the decision to pause federal funding was necessary to ensure that the spending aligns with the president’s priorities. However, a judge temporarily blocked the administration’s objective after a group of nonprofits and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024387/california-22-other-states-sue-to-block-trumps-federal-funding-freeze\">states, including California,\u003c/a> challenged the directive in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The turnaround capped a dramatic and stressful day for Head Start and other nonprofits across the country that receive funding from the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Head Start programs run on very tight budgets, and if they can’t draw those funds, they risk closing their doors in a matter of days, said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California, an association that serves up to 85,000 children in the early education program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11988306\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11988306\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut.jpg\" alt=\"Two mothers play with their young children on a green rug inside a classroom.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Families play with their children inside Oakland’s Head Start mobile classroom on May 24, 2024. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There are a couple of programs that I heard from this morning that did anticipate having to close their doors within a day or two if this pause was implemented,” Cottrill said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early childhood education advocates worry the confusion or uncertainty over Trump’s spending freeze will discourage families from enrolling in Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mary Ignatius, executive director of Parent Voices, said her grassroots organization often fields calls from parents anxious about the fate of their food, housing or child care assistance benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to be able to provide some kind of hopeful assurance, but it’s very difficult to do that when the news is changing so rapidly,” Ignatius said. “It’s very difficult to understand what is the truth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said hearing about interruptions to the payment system gave her pause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was just thinking Congress had already passed funding for these programs, so does he even have the authority to do this,” she said, referring to the new president. “Hearing from folks who can’t access [the] Head Start payment system made me feel like, ‘oh wait, actually maybe there are some teeth to this,’” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal Office of Head Start also sent out an email on Tuesday morning saying it was ordered not to communicate with anyone externally. For Donna Sneeringer, vice president and chief strategy officer for Child Care Resource Center, an early education and care agency in Southern California, it seemed similar to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/cdc-who-trump-548cf18b1c409c7d22e17311ccdfe1f6\">a memo American public health officials received last week, ordering them to stop working with the World Health Organization\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that this is a dangerous precedent to not allow organizations like ours, who do business with the government, to communicate and understand the parameters [of the funding freeze],” Sneeringer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And just to have it shut down has tremendous ripple effects that I don’t think have been really thought out,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Rep. John Garamendi is pushing to get more low-income Californians access to Head Start, and protect the program from getting potentially eliminated if Donald Trump wins the presidential race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garamendi introduced a bill last month that would change the eligibility requirement for Head Start, potentially opening up the early education program to 10,000 more California families. Children under age 5 currently qualify if their family’s income is at or below the federal poverty line, which is $20,440 for a single parent or $31,200 for a family of four.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What are you supposed to do with that in California? You can’t, right?” asked Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California. Due to the state’s high cost of living, she said, thousands of families struggle even when their incomes are above the federal poverty line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garamendi’s bill would let families who qualify for WIC (the nutrition program for women, infants and children) and federal housing assistance – two programs that are not tied to the poverty line – become eligible for Head Start. For example, a single parent with an income of $37,814 is eligible for WIC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cottrill said the change would allow California to serve more children, even without spending any more money. Currently, the state serves 85,000 children but has a budget for 95,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the programs are under-enrolled for two reasons: families who don’t meet the income requirements and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11928111/teacher-shortages-force-dozens-of-california-preschools-to-close-classrooms\">a shortage of teachers\u003c/a>, which forces them to limit capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we really love about this bill is that it gives us a broader pool of people that we can enroll in Head Start, but it doesn’t cost anything,” she said. “It’s just saying, okay, we’re going to change the eligibility a little bit so that in those really high-cost parts of the nation, particularly here, the eligibility requirements are a better reflection of the reality.”[aside postID=\"news_11992142,news_11967796,news_11965328\" label=\"Related Stories\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garamendi, a Democrat whose congressional district includes parts of Contra Costa and Solano counties, said he’s trying to protect Head Start in case Donald Trump wins the election and goes through with the proposal laid out \u003ca href=\"https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf\">in Project 2025, a set of policy recommendations for the next Republican administration, to eliminate Head Start.\u003c/a> In the document, the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation states that it’s against “universal day care,” and prefers giving money to parents so they can afford to stay home with a child or pay for “familial, in-home childcare.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garamendi said Trump could use the appropriations process to defund Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He is dead set on doing it, the people he’s hiring they’re determined to do it,” Garamendi added. “So we have to use every tool we can think of [to take] defensive action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said his legislation, which would need the approval of the House, the Senate and President Biden, is crafted to guarantee funding for the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill “is seriously vetted across the nation with Head Start programs in virtually every state saying ‘yeah, expanded eligibility makes sense in our state,’” Garamendi said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Rep. John Garamendi is pushing to get more low-income Californians access to Head Start, and protect the program from getting potentially eliminated if Donald Trump wins the presidential race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garamendi introduced a bill last month that would change the eligibility requirement for Head Start, potentially opening up the early education program to 10,000 more California families. Children under age 5 currently qualify if their family’s income is at or below the federal poverty line, which is $20,440 for a single parent or $31,200 for a family of four.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What are you supposed to do with that in California? You can’t, right?” asked Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California. Due to the state’s high cost of living, she said, thousands of families struggle even when their incomes are above the federal poverty line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garamendi’s bill would let families who qualify for WIC (the nutrition program for women, infants and children) and federal housing assistance – two programs that are not tied to the poverty line – become eligible for Head Start. For example, a single parent with an income of $37,814 is eligible for WIC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cottrill said the change would allow California to serve more children, even without spending any more money. Currently, the state serves 85,000 children but has a budget for 95,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garamendi, a Democrat whose congressional district includes parts of Contra Costa and Solano counties, said he’s trying to protect Head Start in case Donald Trump wins the election and goes through with the proposal laid out \u003ca href=\"https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf\">in Project 2025, a set of policy recommendations for the next Republican administration, to eliminate Head Start.\u003c/a> In the document, the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation states that it’s against “universal day care,” and prefers giving money to parents so they can afford to stay home with a child or pay for “familial, in-home childcare.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garamendi said Trump could use the appropriations process to defund Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He is dead set on doing it, the people he’s hiring they’re determined to do it,” Garamendi added. “So we have to use every tool we can think of [to take] defensive action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said his legislation, which would need the approval of the House, the Senate and President Biden, is crafted to guarantee funding for the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill “is seriously vetted across the nation with Head Start programs in virtually every state saying ‘yeah, expanded eligibility makes sense in our state,’” Garamendi said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"id": "baycurious",
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"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
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},
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},
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"order": 8
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"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"order": 1
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
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"title": "Forum",
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"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 9
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"meta": {
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"source": "WNYC"
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"jerrybrown": {
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
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},
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"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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