Judge blocks Trump administration move to bar DEI-related terms in Head Start grant applications

A federal judge has temporarily stopped the Trump administration from remaking the Head Start program, ordering officials to pause efforts to remove language linked to diversity, equity and inclusion from grant applications and to halt further layoffs within the federal Office of Head Start.

The order was issued this week in a lawsuit filed in April against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other federal officials. The lawsuit argues that the administration is unlawfully dismantling Head Start by closing federal offices and laying off roughly half of the program’s staff, according to AP.

The plaintiffs, a coalition of organisations representing Head Start providers and parents, also challenged attempts to bar children who are in the United States illegally from enrolling in Head Start and to restrict language the administration associates with DEI.

Disputed language guidance

In court filings cited by AP, the plaintiffs said federal officials instructed a Head Start director in Wisconsin to remove words such as “race,” “belonging” and “pregnant people” from a grant application. Officials later sent her a list of nearly 200 discouraged terms, including “Black,” “Native American,” “disability” and “women.”

A program rooted in anti-poverty policy

Head Start was created more than 60 years ago as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. The program provides early education and family support to children from low-income households, foster care and homelessness. It is federally funded and operated by nonprofits, schools and local governments.

Impact on centres and services

Joel Ryan, executive director of the Washington State Head Start and Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, said the ruling interrupts what he described as a broader attack on Head Start centres.

“When a Head Start program has their funding withheld because of their efforts to provide effective education to children with autism, serve tribal members on a reservation, or treat all families with respect, it is an attack on the fundamental promise of the Head Start program,” Ryan said, according to AP.

The language restrictions caused confusion among Head Start administrators, who are required by law to include demographic information in grant applications. A program director in Washington state said in a court filing that the guidance prompted her to cancel staff training related to supporting children with autism and children affected by trauma, AP reports.

Scope of the court order

The order, issued by U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez and published Monday, bars Health and Human Services from laying off additional Office of Head Start employees. It also prevents the department from penalising Head Start providers for using language included on the prohibited list.
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