The Head Start program — best known for providing preschool education to children from low-income families, as well as facilitating health and nutrition services and promoting parental involvement — experienced the closure of five Health and Human Services (HHS) regional offices Tuesday, including the Seattle-based one that covers Idaho, Alaska, Oregon and Washington.
This came at the direction of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a series of layoffs and funding cuts to agencies under the department’s jurisdiction. He says that the reductions will save taxpayers $1.8 billion, while the HHS budget for fiscal year 2024 was $1.7 trillion, about a quarter of the total federal budget.
Also under the purview of a regional HHS office are representatives from agencies like the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Food and Drug Administration and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration…