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Boston Globe
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Immigration restrictions on Head Start ‘deeply threaten' program's work, state leader says
Advertisement 'Immigration status has never been part of the equation of what families need to survive in this country,' Haimowitz said in an interview. 'And so any of these attempts to impose these requirements deeply threaten the work that we do.' Head Start, In Massachusetts alone, Head Start assists more than 11,000 children and their families each year, including connecting children to medical, dental, and vision screenings, according to the state organization. Advertisement Immigrants who are in the country without authorization have generally not been eligible for public benefits like food stamps. But some federally funded community programs, like Head Start, have not blocked immigrants from receiving help. President Trump Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Trump's HHS secretary, Kennedy said the ban 'restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people.' The ban would apply to Head Start, along with other federally funded programs, including Community Services Block Grants, mental health, workforce, transitional housing assistance, and substance use and treatment services, according to HHS. Heather Yountz, an attorney with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, said the ban was 'shameful,' and is part of a larger effort to target immigrant children, including by allowing ICE to enter schools and cutting spending on legal services for children seeking asylum. Yountz raised several concerns about the order, which she believes is open to legal challenge. 'Trump's action will have a chilling effect on all immigrants, not just low-income babies and toddlers,' Yountz said in an e-mail. The federal ban comes months after the Trump administration Advertisement Sharon Scott-Chandler, the president and CEO of Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD), which oversees Head Start services children living in Greater Boston and the Mystic Valley, said her organization was still trying to understand how the ban will affect their operation. In 2024, ABCD Head Start served around 2,000 families and more than 2,100 children, according to the organization. 'We want children to grow up and be productive, educated, healthy young people and then citizens,' Scott-Chandler said in an interview. 'So I think creating barriers [and] creating distinctions between children is going to have an impact on how we can make communities healthier.' People who rely on ABCD for assistance, and are worried about the ban, should continue coming to the organization, she said. 'We don't close the door on anyone,' Scott-Chandler said. Critics like Gladys Vega, president and chief executive officer of Chelsea-based La Colaborativa, which provides medical care and access to meals to Latino immigrants, said the ban's impact will be felt by American citizens. Many immigrant households include both people who are citizens and those who aren't, she said. 'We believe that no child should be neglected, left behind or punished for the status of their parents,' Vega said. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, in a statement, said Head Start has been a critical part of providing early childhood education. 'At the City level, we've seen how much the entire community benefits when we remove barriers for working families to access critical supports and when our youngest students have the best preparation for Kindergarten,' Wu said. Advertisement Elizabeth Sweet, the executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition, called for the ban to be rescinded. 'Cutting off access to essential early education opportunities for immigrant children is deeply harmful and misguided,' Sweet said. Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. John Hilliard can be reached at
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Michigan Community Action calls for preserving community service funds amidst Trump funding cuts
Michigan Community Action's annual Legislative Day awards ceremony. May 21, 2025 | Submitted photo With funding cuts being pursued by the Trump administration, which is looking to cut what it determines is unnecessary spending in the federal budget, the Michigan Community Action, or MCA, implored lawmakers during its annual Legislative Day to invest in local solutions. Advocates from Community Action Agencies affiliated with the MCA association, implored state lawmakers in the Michigan State Capitol Wednesday to invest in Community Services Block Grants, or CSBG's, which allow Community Action Agencies as non-profits to facilitate poverty solution programming, a news release from MCA said. Michigan receives on average about $23 million a year in CSBG federal funding, the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services reports. MCA would like to see a 50% state match to the federally funded CSGBs which helps fund programming to fight against poverty through nutritional and health care-related programs, housing solutions and emergency assistance programs. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Many nonprofits in Michigan were sent into a panic in January after a memo from the United States Office of Management and Budget instructed that there would be widespread freezes on federal funding to ensure spending aligns with the will of President Donald Trump's administration. 'In a time when the future of federal funding for critical community action programs is uncertain, our work on the ground is more important than ever,' Executive Director of MCA Brian McGrain said in the news release Wednesday. 'Today, we elevated the voices of those who are too often left out of national debates. Our agencies continue to deliver results, and our Legislative Day is a chance to ensure policy makers see both the needs and the solutions we have right here in Michigan.' In Michigan, CSBG's allow nonprofit groups to respond to the needs of their community with speed and flexibility, the MCA asserted, and further investment in the program would unlock new resources in decreasing poverty and increasing self-sufficiency in the state. However, in a letter sent in early May to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, from Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, the Trump administration said it is not confident CSBG funds are being used appropriately. The letter says programming using CSBG funds in California have focused on diversity equity and inclusion efforts as well as green energy initiatives, while programming in Wisconsin used funds to 'combine clean energy with affordable housing in the pursuit of both economic and environmental justice'. 'Americans in need of job-training and a helping hand would be better served by programs funded at the Departments of Labor and Agriculture,' the recommendation for cutting the $770 million program in the letter said. 'The Budget proposes to eliminate dollars that flow to Community Action Agencies who carry out their own agendas.' Wednesday's Legislative Day also honored clients, volunteers, and state lawmakers who stepped up to advocate both for MCA and Community Action Agency operations: Legislators of the Year State Rep. John Roth (R-Interlochen) State Sen. Joseph Bellino (R-Monroe) Client Awardees Daniel Remington, Gaylord – nominated by Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency Jack McGrath, Sault Ste. Marie – nominated by Chippewa-Luce-Mackinac Community Action Agency Mandi Schuch, Alpena – nominated by Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency Sarah Elizabeth, Alpena – nominated by Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency Volunteer Awardees Hazel Sanders, Ypsilanti – nominated by Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development Kathleen (Kat) Byers, Kalkaska – nominated by Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency Kathryn Nerychel, Lakeview – nominated by EightCAP Lorelei King, Crawford County – nominated by Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency Patty and Tony Soma, Walled Lake – nominated by Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency
