Targeting the Vulnerable: How the Trump Administration’s Actions Harm Young Children and Their Families

While the second Trump administration has only been in power for about 50 days, they have already taken numerous actions that will have a negative impact on young children and their families. In the coming days, President Trump is expected to issue a much-anticipated executive order designed to dismantle the Department of Education (ED). Despite polling that indicates that such a move is unpopular among most Americans and the fact that actually abolishing the department would require an act of Congress, the administration seems committed to starting a process that will significantly impact the ability of the department to fulfill its mission. In her first message to ED staff after being confirmed, Education Secretary Linda McMahon instructed employees to prepare for the department’s "final mission,” a clear indication that she plans to attempt to wind down the work of the department.

The Department of Education is responsible for the two largest federal funding streams for public schools: Title I and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) programs. Title I grants provide about $18 billion each year to fund services for students from low-income families, including pre-K for about 1.5 million students. IDEA grants provide about $15 billion each year to help states and districts better serve students with disabilities starting at birth. Portions of these funds are dedicated to serving children in pre-K programs (Part B, Section 619) as well as infants and toddlers with disabilities or delays (Part C). Specifically, recent data indicate that IDEA supports over 500,000 pre-K children and more than 400,000 infants and toddlers with disabilities or delays. Significantly cutting the budget and overall power of the department will undoubtedly leave many of these young children worse off.

While many important federal early learning programs are the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS), ED plays an important role as a partner in administering those programs. For example, ED works with HHS to administer the Preschool Development Grant - Birth Through Five (PDG B-5) program, a competitive grant program that has sent tens of millions of dollars to individual states to aid them in improving access to high-quality child care and pre-K education while improving data collection. In recent years, ED has also made a concerted effort to improve the quality of kindergarten and the early elementary grades that follow through its Kindergarten Sturdy Bridge Learning Community. It also plays an important role in helping low-income college students access on-campus child care services through the Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) program.

The administration has already made significant cuts to important research designed to better serve young children. Some of these cancelled contracts include research on the best, evidence-based ways to teach reading to children in kindergarten through third grade as well as ways to boost student attendance. And despite assurances that the cuts would have no impact on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known to many as the Nation’s Report Card and a key data source for tracking long-term education trends, we’re already seeing indications that this vital function of the department is also being undermined.

HHS, home to most of the major federal early learning programs, has also been targeted by the administration for funding and personnel cuts. The administration has already laid off about 5,200 probationary employees, including 20 percent of staff in the Office of Head Start and 25 percent of staff in the Office of Child Care. In response to these cuts, over 40 House Democrats recently sent a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. outlining concerns about the impacts of the staffing cuts on the over 778,000 children and their families who rely on Head Start. These cuts will likely lead to delays in receiving grants and technical assistance for programs across the country. The letter demands that the federal employees be reinstated so that they’re able to continue their important work.

Outside of the administration’s actions of cutting both staff and funding for important early learning programs, the budget resolution recently passed by the House of Representatives at the behest of the administration makes cuts to Medicaid essentially unavoidable despite the overwhelming lack of support for such cuts. The blueprint calls for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts that would primarily benefit the wealthy and a $2 trillion reduction in federal spending over a decade. As part of the spending reductions, the blueprint calls for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, to cut spending by $880 billion over the next decade (on a related note, the seven-month funding patch released over the weekend by House Republicans does not renew $40 million in fiscal 2024 spending for over 70 programs that benefit children and families).

More than 70 million Americans depend on Medicaid to receive health care and 42 percent of those enrolled are children. Medicaid also helps to identify and support children with delays or disabilities as early as possible by funding developmental screenings, evaluations, and early intervention services for infants and toddlers. In fact, Medicaid covers 45 percent of children in the country with special health care needs and disabilities. Cuts to Medicaid could also increase the child care staffing shortage as early educators lose their health care and need to find better-paying jobs or jobs where they can receive coverage, illustrating just how high the stakes are for young children in the upcoming debate about the proper size and role of federal programs and agencies.