Federal Grant Freeze Puts Head Start Children and Families at Risk Nationwide

Update as of 4:00 p.m. ET, January 28, 2025 – Following the release of additional guidance and clarification from the Office of Budget Management, Head Start agencies are not included in the list of federal grants and loans whose funds are frozen. Agencies have been able to access funds through the Payment Management System (PMS).

Washington, D.C.—Last night, the Trump administration released a memo that temporarily paused all federal grants and loan disbursements. It has sparked major confusion across the entire federal government, and created panic among Head Start grant recipients who are currently not able to draw down any funds. 

The following statement can be attributed to NHSA’s Executive Director Yasmina Vinci. 

“The administration’s order, while directed broadly across the federal government, is deeply unsettling and has the potential to severely disrupt the ability for Head Start programs to serve nearly 800,000 children and their families nationwide.

While we understand that this is an evolving story, this disruption, at best, will slow down Head Start agencies’ ability to pay hundreds of thousands of staff, contractors, and small businesses who support Head Start operations in every corner of the country. At worst, this means that hundreds of thousands of families will not be able to depend on the critical services and likely will not be able to work.

We call on the administration to urgently reverse course in order to allow Head Start programs to return to doing what they do best—serving our nation’s most at-risk children and their families.”