Concerns mount over Head Start programs for children
New Mexico officials say Head Start remains stable for now in the state amid mounting concerns about federal efforts to dismantle the program.
While Head Start funding has been an ongoing issue since the start of President Donald Trump's second term, recent reports that the Trump administration seeks its elimination have ramped up pushback.
On Monday, several Head Start providers and parent associations filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with Secretary Robert. F. Kennedy Jr., for unlawfully attempting to demolish Head Start programs and going against Congress' mandate to operate such programs in the country.
'All parents deserve the opportunity to provide a better life for their children,' Candice Vickers, executive director of Family Forward Oregon, a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement provided by the ACLU. 'Head Start gives children and families, including Black, Indigenous, Pacific Islander, Latinx, and immigrant children and families, a fair opportunity to work towards a better life. Taking this program away continues cycles of poverty and unfairly targets the children and families it was created to support.'
New Mexico Democrats U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján signed onto a letter this week, along with 40 other U.S. senators, to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 'demanding' that the administration unfreeze funding to Head Start programs and 'reverse' mass firing of program employees. Luján frequently comments on his time in Head Start as a child, and points out that he is one of two Head Start graduates to serve in the U.S. Senate.
'Already this year, this Administration has withheld almost $1 billion in federal grant funding from Head Start programs, a 37 percent decrease compared to the amount of funding awarded during the same period last year,' the letter reads. 'It is abundantly clear that these actions are part of a broader effort to ultimately eliminate the program altogether, as the Administration reportedly plans to do in its fiscal year 2026 budget proposal.'
The letter also points to a statement made by the National Head Start Association in February, which claimed that programs in 23 states that were awarded federal grants were having problems accessing the money. The association projects more programs have been impacted in the following months.
New Mexico, according to the state Early Childhood Education and Care Department's February 2025 fact sheet, has 2,233 funded Early Head Start slots for New Mexico children and 5,457 funded Head Start slots. Programs provide accessible childcare and prepare children up to 3 or 4 years of age from low-income families to enter school successfully. Programs also provide meals to children and access to community resources for families at no cost.
Thus far, they remain unaffected, officials told Source.
'New Mexico Head Start programs are still able to access funds, and we have had no reports of interruptions. We have been in close contact with our Head Start programs to ensure that services continue without disruption,' Julia Sclafani, spokesperson for New Mexico's early childhood department, told Source NM in a written statement. 'We are monitoring developments regarding the proposed closure of regional Head Start offices and any potential federal funding cuts.'
And while the future of Head Start programs is uncertain at this time, Sclafani added that 'the State of New Mexico remains firmly committed to supporting early childhood services, including maintaining access to Head Start programs for children and families.'
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