Email mistake reveals secret plans to end research on Head Start and
other child safety net programs
[May 02, 2025]
By RYAN J. FOLEY
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Trump administration could gut research on
the effectiveness of child welfare programs, with plans to terminate
dozens of university grants studying improvements to Head Start and
child care policy, according to a spreadsheet mistakenly made public
this week.
The document listed more than 150 research projects under consideration
for termination by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It
covered grants funded by the Office of Planning, Research and
Evaluation, which says it “builds evidence to improve lives” by helping
policymakers evaluate programs that help low-income children and
families.
“These grants are aimed at learning how to make programs more effective
at pursuing goals like healthy child development, reducing abuse and
neglect and promoting economic self-sufficiency,” said Naomi Goldstein,
who led the office for nearly two decades before she retired in 2022.
“It's hard to see why they would want to cancel these efforts.”
The grant cancellations would add to deep cuts already enacted at HHS'
Administration for Children and Families, which plans to close five
regional offices and abruptly fired hundreds of workers one month ago.
Its staffing has dropped from approximately 2,400 in January to 1,500,
former employees say, and the administration has said it will fold ACF
into other parts of HHS.
Other HHS divisions, such as the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, have already cut
billions of dollars in grants, including those related to public health,
gender, race and other subjects opposed by President Donald Trump’s
administration. The document released Wednesday marked the first news of
plans for the possible mass terminations of ACF grants, although a
department spokesperson later said it was only an outdated draft.
The proposed terminations would further undercut Head Start, the
60-year-old program overseen by ACF that supports preschool and services
for hundreds of thousands of low-income children. Head Start has faced
mass layoffs and a plan to eliminate its funding altogether in recent
months. The grants facing termination included studies intended to
answer key questions and improve its operations, such as how to retain
more educators at local Head Start programs.
The spreadsheet also listed for termination grants worth millions of
dollars for first-of-their-kind centers dedicated to better serving
low-income Black and Hispanic children and families, located,
respectively, at Morehouse College in Atlanta and at a nonprofit in
Maryland.
Dozens of grants related to child care policy, child development, foster
care, preventing child abuse, the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families program and more were also listed as set for cancellation,
reflecting ACF's widespread portfolio.
Those studies help policymakers understand what works, a former
administration official said.
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The Health and Human Services seal is seen before a news conference
with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Washington, April 16, 2025.
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
 “Ending these projects without
explanation not only wastes taxpayer dollars, it also threatens the
evidence base behind key safety net programs,” said Katie Hamm, who
was ACF’s deputy assistant secretary for early childhood development
until January. “It’s alarming that grantees and contractors had to
find out this way, through an accidental email, rather than a
transparent process.”
The information was mistakenly included in an email sent Wednesday
to grant recipients at universities and nonprofits by an HHS
employee, who asked them to review and update their contact
information.
HHS recalled the message only after the spreadsheet, which had a
column on whether funding would “terminate” or “continue” for each
grant, had been downloaded by recipients. A department spokesperson
said the document contained “outdated and predecisional information"
but did not rule out that research inside the ACF could be cut.
“ACF is committed to ensuring that government funds are used in
alignment with Administration priorities and are in the best
interest of the American people,” spokesperson Andrew Nixon said.
Goldstein, the former research office director, said the situation
“does appear to reflect a level of haste and chaos” at the agency.
Only 21 out of 177 listed grants were marked with a note to
“continue” funding in the document. A small number had already
ended, and some were marked for termination “at the end of budget
period.”
The document didn’t list how much funding in all would be cut, but
the office was responsible for $154 million in grants and contracts
in fiscal year 2024.
More than 50 universities were listed as having grants terminated.
Several other state agencies and nonprofits would also be affected.
A follow-up email told recipients to disregard the spreadsheet, but
again asked for updated contact information. One researcher who
spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation said they
were expecting to receive formal notification soon that their grants
would be ending. Several other grant recipients declined to comment.
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