Local child care providers and advocates say they have yet to feel tangible impacts from the recent staffing cuts of their federal colleagues or from changes in federal immigration protocols, but one says it could only be a matter of time.
In recent weeks, 20% of federal staff at the Office of Head Start and 25% of staff at the Office of Child Care were laid off, nationwide child care advocates shared in a recent virtual press conference. The offices, part of the U.S. Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, are run by staff who provide guidance and resources that ultimately impact local child care communities. Among the responsibilities are oversight of the Child Care Development Fund, which provides financial assistance for child care costs to low-income families across the country.
The cuts to these offices coincide with a mass exodus seen across several federal agencies under the direction of President Donald Trump’s administration and the Department of Government Efficiency. A former Administration for Children and Families employee, who asked to remain unnamed, told the Star-Telegram the cuts appeared to mostly affect employees in the midst of their probationary work periods, or the first year of their employment with the agency. The employee called the firings “unprecedented” and “unusual.”…