Head Start centers told to avoid ‘disability,’ ‘women’ and more in funding requests
Some Head Start early childhood programs are being told by the federal government to remove a list of nearly 200 words and phrases from their funding applications or they could be denied. That’s according to recently submitted court documents.
The list of words includes “accessible,” “belong,” “Black,” “disability,” “female,” “minority,” “trauma,” “tribal” and “women.”
The list was submitted on Dec. 5, as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by Head Start programs in a handful of states – including Pennsylvania, Washington, Wisconsin and Illinois – against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in federal programs conflicts with Head Start’s statutory mandate. That mandate includes, among other things, providing “linguistically and culturally appropriate” services as well as early intervention services for children with disabilities.
In response to NPR requests for comment or clarity on the list, HHS Press Secretary Emily G. Hilliard wrote, “HHS does not comment on ongoing litigation.”
Nationally, Head Start serves roughly 750,000 infants, toddlers and preschool-age children, providing childcare, early learning, free meals, health screenings and family support.
The list came to light through the lawsuit as part of a recent declaration from the executive director of a Wisconsin-based Head Start program that has been receiving federal funding for over 50 years. The program’s director, identified in the document by a pseudonym, Mary Roe, explained that she submitted a regular funding renewal request to HHS on Sept. 30.
According to the declaration, Roe received two emails from HHS on Nov. 19. One briefly explained that her grant application was being returned and instructed her to “please remove the following words from your application.” The email contained a list of 19 words including “Racism,” “Race” and “Racial.”
Shortly after that, Roe said in her declaration, she received a second email, this one from her assigned program specialist at HHS, who wrote: “I wanted to follow-up with you concerning your application. I sent it back asking for the removal of particular words and I wanted to provide you with the complete list of words to make sure are not in your applications.”