Latest news with #AndrewGradison
San Francisco Chronicle
8 hours ago
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump administration orders California to remove ‘disturbing gender ideology' from sex ed program
The Trump administration has given California 60 days to strip all references to gender identity from a federally funded sex education program or risk losing its funding. In a letter sent Friday to the California Department of Public Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families called the state's Personal Responsibility Education Program 'noncompliant' with federal law. The agency cited 'disturbing gender ideology content,' including passages explaining that gender identity can differ from biological sex and that some individuals identify as transgender or nonbinary. 'The Trump Administration will not tolerate the use of federal funds for programs that indoctrinate our children,' said Andrew Gradison, ACF's acting secretary, in a statement. 'The disturbing gender ideology content in California's PREP materials is both unacceptable and well outside the program's core purpose.' PREP, which receives approximately $6 million in federal support, is designed to educate youth on contraception, abstinence and preventing sexually transmitted infections. California officials said the program targets vulnerable populations, such as youth in homeless shelters and juvenile justice facilities. Among the flagged content were educational materials describing gender identity as a 'deep-seated, internal sense' and including terms such as 'cisgender,' 'transgender' and 'genderqueer.' The agency stated that such material exceeds the scope of PREP's authorizing statute. A spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom told The Hill that the state was first made aware of the directive through Fox News. 'To be clear: this is NOT California's K-12 sex education curriculum,' the spokesperson noted, calling it an 'effective, evidence-based program model.' The latest announcement comes just days after the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee's law banning gender-affirming medical care — such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy — for transgender minors.
Fox News
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
HHS gives California deadline to overhaul federally-funded sex ed program 'indoctrinating' kids
The Trump administration is giving California's federally funded sex education program 60 days to remove all references to gender identity or face potential termination of its funding. California's Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grant has been under scrutiny by the Trump administration since at least March, when the HHS's Administration for Children and Families (ACF) requested the federally funded state-operated program send copies of its curriculum and other relevant course materials to them for review. According to ACF, the probe was initiated to ensure the state's sexual education programming is medically accurate and age-appropriate. The agency said in a Friday notice sent to California's PREP program, reviewed by Fox News Digital, that following its examination of the program's curriculum and other teaching materials, it found a litany of subjects and language within the course materials deemed to fall outside the program's "authorizing statute," in particular references to "gender ideology." As a result, ACF said it halted their review for "medical accuracy," since the content it found is not statutorily allowed in the first place. "The Trump administration will not tolerate the use of federal funds for programs that indoctrinate our children," said ACF's acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison. "The disturbing gender ideology content in California's PREP materials is both unacceptable and well outside the program's core purpose. ACF remains committed to radical transparency and providing accountability so that parents know what their children are being taught in schools." Among the materials ACF found, which it now wants to be removed, was a lesson for middle school-aged students that seeks to introduce them to the concepts of transgenderism. "We've been talking during class about messages people get on how they should act as boys and girls—but as many of you know, there are also people who don't identify as boys or girls, but rather as transgender or gender queer," the lesson states to students. "This means that even if they were called a boy or a girl at birth and may have body parts that are typically associated with being a boy or a girl, on the inside, they feel differently." ACF flagged parts of the curriculum for high school-aged students as well, which gets into topics like differentiating between "social transitioning" and "medical transitioning." The high school-aged materials also include instruction on what it means to be "non-binary" and language that tells students "gender-identity" is "essentially a social status." Teacher training materials part of the California PREP program were among other aspects of the California sex-ed curriculum that were flagged by ACF. "All people have a gender identity," the teacher training materials state. They also instruct educators to refer to people who follow the biological marker they are "assigned at birth" as "cisgender" and adds that those who are not "cisgender" may identify as "non-binary, agender, bigender, genderfluid, [or] genderqueer." In ACF's notice, the agency pointed out that under the authorizing statute that established California's PREP program, it is defined as a program designed to educate young people mainly on abstinence, contraception and avoiding sexually transmitted infections, like HIV/AIDS. "The statute neither requires, supports nor authorizes teaching students that gender identity is distinct from biological sex or that boys can identify as girls and vice versa," ACF's notice to California PREP states. "We are aware that this curricula and other program materials were previously approved by ACF," the notice continues. "However, the prior administration erred in allowing PREP grants to be used to teach students gender ideology because that approval exceeded the agency's authority to administer the program consistent with the authorizing legislation as enacted by Congress." California now has 60 days to remove all gender ideology references from its PREP curricula and other program materials, and then it must resend its materials for approval by ACF. If California fails to make the necessary changes requested by the Trump administration, the agency says it has the authority to withhold, disallow, suspend or terminate the federal grant currently funding California's PREP program.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Nevada receives remaining federal energy assistance funding
(iStock/Getty Images) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the remaining $1.4 million in federal funding Thursday meant to help low-income Nevadans pay utility bills. Nevada was awarded about $15 million in funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) this year, but had not received the remaining 10% of its allocated funding before the Trump administration fired every employee responsible for administering the funds. The Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday they would release the nearly $400 million in LIHEAP utility assistance funding that had not yet been distributed to states by Thursday. 'I am committed to ensuring that our programs run efficiently. With today's announcement, all available LIHEAP funding for this fiscal year will be released. We will continue to work with our state, tribal, and territorial partners to ensure this funding reaches eligible families,' said Andrew Gradison, Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families. Utility advocates and Democrats in Congress raised the alarm about last month, warning that the gutting of federal workers and the program could leave the funds in limbo. After news of the mass firing last month, Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen and several other Democratic senators sent a letter to HHS demanding the agency release all of the LIHEAP funds that Congress has appropriated. 'By terminating all 23 employees tasked with overseeing LIHEAP, it is now unclear how these funds will be administered. In our view, that is unacceptable,' read the letter. 'Failure to disburse these funds constitutes an illegal impoundment of bipartisan, congressionally appropriated funds and will put the health and well-being of some of the most vulnerable people in America at risk.' Nevada's Energy Assistance Program received more than half its funding from LIHEAP last year, making it a vital source of utility assistance funding for the state. Last year, Nevada received more than $17 million in LIHEAP funding to help 12,000 low-income households in the state keep their power on. A portion of those funds were also used to help low-income households pay for upgrades that improve energy efficiency and lower power bills in the long term. The Nevada's Energy Assistance Program paid out another $13.8 million in benefits last year from state revenue generated from Nevada's Universal Energy Charge which helped another nearly 6,000 households pay their utilities. Still, as temperatures rise there is a growing demand for utility assistance funding in the state. Nearly 32,000 Nevadans had their power disconnected by NV Energy for nonpayment in 2024, according to data from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada. In Southern Nevada, where temperatures reached 100 degrees or higher for 64 consecutive days in 2024, air conditioning is a life-saving necessity. The state's ability to provide energy assistance could be reduced even more in 2026, as LIHEAP was among 60 programs President Donald Trump asked Congress to defund in a budget request Friday. Nevada's Energy Assistance Program begins July 1st and applications are accepted through June 30th. Applications are evaluated year round or until funding is exhausted. Eligible households receive an annual, one-time per year benefit customarily paid directly to their energy provider. Those interested in applying for LIHEAP can visit or call the National Energy Assistance Referral (NEAR) hotline toll-free at: 1-866-674-6327. Households can easily identify if they may be eligible for assistance by using the LIHEAP Eligibility Tool on
