Child Care and Early Learning
Last Updated: April 7, 2025
Pandemic-era child care stabilization grants expired and not renewed.
Head Start and Early Head Start facing proposed $750 million in cuts.
Discretionary grants for preschool innovation and dual-language learners eliminated.
Infant mental health service grants eliminated or rolled into block grants.
Grants being cut or changed
Federal support for child care and early learning is shrinking under the 2025 budget. The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which provides subsidies to working families and helps child care centers improve quality, is slated for level funding despite growing demand. Pandemic-era stabilization grants that helped child care centers stay open have already expired, and efforts to renew them have been blocked. Head Start and Early Head Start are also under pressure, with proposed cuts of $750 million for FY2026, affecting both enrollment capacity and staff salaries.
Eliminations or restructuring
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is proposing to consolidate various early childhood quality improvement and family engagement grants. Some discretionary grants supporting innovative preschool models, dual-language learners, and infant mental health services are being eliminated. Proposed restructuring may limit how much flexibility states and nonprofits have in tailoring early learning services to underserved communities.
On hold or court challenges
Advocates are pressuring Congress to restore early learning investments, and some legal scholars have argued that cutting Head Start funding violates key provisions of the 2007 Head Start Act. So far, no formal court challenges have been filed. Lawsuits could arise if layoffs or closures occur in centers that had multiyear federal contracts.
Timeline
The stabilization grants expired at the end of 2024, and the ripple effects have hit in 2025 with increased provider closures and staff shortages. The proposed cuts to Head Start and discretionary grants would begin in October 2025 if enacted. Most other changes are being felt gradually as contracts end without renewal.
State-level impact
Kentucky and West Virginia are especially vulnerable, with large rural populations depending on federally funded child care centers. In South Carolina and North Carolina, workforce shortages in early childhood education could worsen as federal supports dwindle. Pennsylvania and Ohio have warned that reduced Head Start funding may lead to lower enrollment in high-need urban and Appalachian regions. Tennessee is expecting delays in new early learning program launches due to uncertainty in federal funding streams.
Sources
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2025, March 5). FY2026 Budget Overview: Early Childhood Programs. https://www.hhs.gov/about/budget/fy2026/budget-in-brief/acf/index.html
The Century Foundation. (2025, March 20). Child care cliff: What’s happening after stabilization grants end. https://tcf.org/content/report/child-care-cliff-2025
National Head Start Association. (2025, March 26). Impact of proposed budget cuts on Head Start. https://www.nhsa.org/press-releases/head-start-budget-2025
NPR. (2025, April 1). Early childhood educators brace for federal funding decline. https://www.npr.org/2025/04/01/child-care-funding-crisis
