On July 10, Head Start providers nationwide were notified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that they must now verify children’s citizenship and immigration status before enrollment, a policy that could prevent some families from accessing the program.
Head Start, a program dedicated to promoting school readiness among low-income children, supports more than 1 million children and families each year across the United States. Since its launch in 1965, it has reached over 38 million children and families nationwide, including all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and U.S. territories. It is unclear how many children in Head Start may be undocumented because the program has never required documentation of immigration status as a condition of enrollment.
In announcing the changes, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy said, “For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “Today’s action changes that—it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people.”
The directive, without any guidance, reinterpreted a 30-year-old law that expanded the definition of “federal public benefit” under the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) to now include Head Start, therefore making some immigrant children ineligible for the first time in the program’s history. The new policy reinterpretation applies PRWORA’s plain-language definition of “Federal public benefit,” reverses exclusions, and affirms that programs serving individuals, households, or families are subject to eligibility restrictions. It also clarifies that no HHS programs have been formally exempted under PRWORA’s limited exceptions. The revised list now includes all programs classified as “Federal public benefits” under PRWORA:
- Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics
- Community Mental Health Services Block Grant
- Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)
- Head Start
- Health Center Program
- Health Workforce Programs not otherwise previously covered (including grants, loans, scholarships, payments, and loan repayments).
- Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Prevention, and Recovery Support Services Programs administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness Grant Program
- Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant
- Title IV-E Educational and Training Voucher Program
- Title IV-E Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program
- Title IV-E Prevention Services Program
- Title X Family Planning Program
Reactions to these reinterpretations have advocates nervous about how this will impact families whose immigration status may be unclear.
“Not only are these exclusions illegal, but the administration has escalated its attack on Head Start, children, and families by declaring that HHS’s unilateral reinterpretation of a law passed by Congress takes effect immediately. This is a clear attempt to evade the required review process, and we are asking the Court to hold the administration accountable to the rule of law,” said Lori Rifkin, litigation director at the Impact Fund.
In response, parent groups and a coalition of Head Start providers are now plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s unlawful attacks on the Head Start program. The plaintiffs include parent groups Parent Voices Oakland and Family Forward Oregon, as well as the Head Start associations of Washington state, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Plaintiffs in the case are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Washington, the ACLU of Illinois, and the Impact Fund.
Yesterday, the plaintiffs announced they have requested to amend their complaint to challenge the reinterpretation, which contradicts PRWORA and the Head Start Act and threatens to undermine a program that has served over 40 million children and families across the country.
“In Alameda County, hundreds of children and thousands of jobs will be affected by this directive. Locally over half of the children from these programs come from immigrant families and the directive will significantly chill participation in our Head Start programs,” said Clarissa Doutherd, executive director of Parent Voices Oakland. “Immigrants are threaded through the fabric of our communities and threatening them tears communities apart.”
Plaintiffs are urging the court to declare this multi-pronged dismantling of Head Start unlawful and unconstitutional, and to block the administration’s continued defiance of Congress’s mandate to serve low-income families.
