A selection of The Imprint’s most impactful stories from the past year
Trump’s second term began with an effort by the Department of Government Efficiency, led initially by Elon Musk, to dramatically reduce the federal workforce and cut spending that the administration viewed as wasteful or unaligned with its priorities.
The federal agencies focused on child welfare and youth justice were not immune to that.
Sara Tiano and Michael Fitzgerald reported on reduction-in-force efforts at the Administration for Children and Families that saw the agency’s workforce cut in half, along with its regional offices established to assist states and tribes in navigating the complex thicket of federal funds and regulations.
Former employees who were let go by the administration described a confusing and hastily arranged process that left them angry and fearful that the mission of the Administration for Children and Families had been compromised.
“These are stealth policy decisions. If there is nobody left to push the button to make grants for essential services like child care, child abuse investigations or child abuse prevention, then states, territories, tribes and localities and will not have money to provide those services,” said Naomi Goldstein, who served as a research chief for the Administration for Children and Families from 2004 to 2022. “Instead of policy change, they just fire all the people, and that work doesn’t get done. That’s an important story people outside the government don’t realize.”
The Imprint identified dozens of youth justice grants totaling more than $100 million that were terminated in April of this year, part of a broader slashing of grants and contracts by the Justice Department. Reporter Nell Bernstein wrote about the impact of these actions on the grant recipients and the youth served by them.
“Many of these providers are not going to continue to operate their programs,” said Liz Ryan, head of juvenile justice during the Biden administration. “Some of them will have to lay off staff, and some of them may not survive these cuts. We’re going to lose all of that vital expertise and experience that could be put towards helping young people grow and thrive.”
For more coverage like this, visit our White House Watch page.
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