The Administration for Children and Families has terminated 32 grants to 11 organizations working on projects that it has determined no longer effectuate “the program goals or agency priorities,” Youth Services Insider has learned.
All of the terminated grants — all related to some extent to race-related topics or diversity, equity and inclusion (or DEI) — were effective December 8 and were publicized on a Department of Health and Human Services website meant to publicize the Trump administration’s efforts to cut back what it views as wasteful spending.
According to data on the site, the grantees had $13.6 million remaining on grants that total $34.9 million.
“The saddest part is letting staff go during the holiday season with no advance notice,” said Jeanette Vega, executive director of Rise, which received a $1.5 million grant for a peer care initiative. “And we have to turn away families who need our support as we do not have the finances to purchase family basic needs after we promised supporting them before the holidays.”
The largest of the terminated grants was for Families Rising, a Minnesota-based organization that had received a $15 million grant to operate the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute. The nonprofit took over as lead on the institute from the State University of New York-Albany in 2023, with plans to “increase diversity in child welfare leadership and build capacity of child welfare agencies to shift organizational culture and promote equity.” There was just under $4.8 million remaining on the grant, according to the federal website.
Two of the most prolific research organizations on child welfare subjects, Child Trends and Urban Institute, saw grants of more than $4 million terminated. Child Trends’ grant was for a Center for Research on Hispanic Children and Families; Urban Institute had launched a center to assist in the evaluation of lead agencies for the federal Child Care Development Fund.
Iowa State was cut short on a $50,000 study about Head Start enrollment and retention.
The seven other grantees who saw their work halted in December were funded under a Biden-era program called Field-Initiated Approach to Addressing Racial Bias and Inequity in Child Welfare. While they no doubt hoped for the best, those grantees certainly saw this day coming early in Trump’s term when he signed an executive order rooting out all federal work on DEI.
“Knowing the national landscape, the termination of the ACF project was not a surprise,” said Dr. Terry Brooks, CEO of Kentucky Youth Advocates in an email to The Imprint. His organization’s grant was for a project called Community is Our Strength: Empowering Black Families and Promoting Child Safety in Louisville.
“The initiative was a real lever in understanding systems that impact our children,” he said.
A letter notifying one of the seven grantees explained that pursuant to a change in federal regulations finalized in October of this year, the administration had the authority to terminate grants based on several criteria:
…the Department may terminate this award in part or in its entirety based upon: (1) the availability of appropriated funds, (2) the recipient’s satisfactory progress in achieving the goals or objectives of the project; (3) the recipient’s compliance with the terms and conditions of a previous award; or (4) for whatever reason continued funding would not be in the best interests of the Federal government (including when a grant no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities).
The letter further explains that the Biden administration’s posting of the Field-Initiated Approach to Addressing Racial Bias and Inequity in Child Welfare grant “centers entirely around DEI,” and that “therefore, it is not appropriate for the government to continue funding for awards” made under this initiative.
Below is a list of all the terminated grantees, along with what the federal database lists as their total awards and the amount of funds remaining on December 8.
Child Welfare Workforce Institute
Families Rising
Total: $15 million
Remaining: $4,751,647
Research Grants
Child Trends
Total: $4.6 million
Remaining: $1,625,764
The Urban Institute
Total: $4.8 million
Remaining: $1,523,827
Iowa State University
Total: $50,000
Remaining: $18,544
Field-Initiated Approach to Addressing Racial Bias and Inequity in Child Welfare
University of Kansas Center for Research
Total: $1.5 million
Remaining: $704,799
Kentucky Youth Advocates
Total: $1.5 million
Remaining: $1,061,422
Minneapolis American Indian Center
Total: $1.5 million
Remaining: $923,169
Fund for the City of New York/Rise
Total: $1.5 million
Remaining: $857,792
The Contingent
Total: $1.5 million
Remaining: $613,613
YMCA of San Diego
Total: $1.5 million
Remaining: $891,036
FosterClub
Total: $1.5 million
Remaining: $597,052
