After inauguration, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) basically went dark on externally communicating with the public until it had a Senate-confirmed leader. Now that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is in place, it appears that some more permanent consolidation on messaging is set to occur in the large division of the agency that focuses on family support and child welfare.
On Thursday, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) gave notice that the social media presence of its various derivative parts would be “discontinued,” with all future updates coming from the ACF pages.
“Thank you for your support, and we can’t wait to connect with you there! #StayConnected,” the messages about consolidation said. This was the case for several youth and family service-focused offices including the U.S. Children’s Bureau; Head Start; the Administration for Native Americans; the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation; and the Family and Youth Services Bureau.
Given the current climate around the cuts to the federal workforce and the actions by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), many online seemed to make the justifiable leap that these actual parts of ACF were going away, the work to be folded into a presumably downsized single agency. That does not appear to be the case, at least for now: the actual websites for these agencies remain, with acting leadership listed for each office.
But DOGE cuts have been visited on the Administration for Children and Families. Youth Services Insider hears from sources that about 200 ACF employees have been given notice. We have asked ACF for more exact information about the impact of DOGE work and other things related to President Trump’s executive orders, but have yet to receive even an acknowledgment of our request.
One aspect of the ACF communications machine that does appear to be defunct: Child Welfare in the News. This excellent daily email is a service of the Child Welfare Information Gateway, a hub of resources operated by the company ICF since 1990. This email list, which counts more than 50,000 subscribers, pulling together news coverage from across the country and the world, including much of The Imprint’s work.
Child Welfare in the News abruptly vanished after inauguration, and is yet to return. We have heard no indication that it is likely to.
Correction: This article originally said that “Child Welfare in the News” began after the COVID-19 pandemic began. It was started well before the pandemic.