On April 1, 2025, the Trump administration abruptly closed and laid off all staff in five of Head Start’s 10 regional offices—Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. Head Start regional offices play a vital role in administering grants and overseeing the delivery of Head Start services for low-income children and families in communities across the United States. Collectively, the closed offices served nearly 800, or 41 percent of, Head Start grantees and nearly 318,000, or 44 percent of, funded slots for children across 22 states and five U.S. territories.*
Regional office closures come as part of mass layoffs—a stark reduction in force of an estimated 20,000 jobs—at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), less than a week after Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced plans to dramatically restructure the department in accordance with President Donald Trump’s February 11, 2025, executive order. Recently, a draft HHS budget proposal confirmed that the Trump administration is considering a budget proposal that would eliminate funding for Head Start altogether, as proposed in Project 2025.
This fact sheet provides an overview of the role Head Start regional offices play in supporting program delivery and the risks that the Trump administration and Department of Government Efficiency cuts pose for the children and families across the country who rely on Head Start services.
Regional offices support the local delivery of Head Start services
At the beginning of 2025, the federal Office of Head Start operated 10 regional offices across the country, plus two offices in Washington, D.C. that provide support for the American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start and the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs. These regional offices, which serve programs across nearly every community in the United States, play an important role in Head Start’s federal-to-local model by ensuring local programs have the resources they need to support staff as well as children and families. Local grantees use federal dollars to deliver education, health, and developmental services to children and families in a range of settings, including center-based, home-based, and family child care programs. Local grantees are given flexibility to tailor services and programs to be responsive to the specific needs of their local communities. For example, programs may offer bilingual services, operate during nontraditional hours, or incorporate cultural practices.
Regional offices provide direct day-to-day support and oversight to local Head Start grantees, ensuring smooth delivery of funding and individualized technical assistance. Staff in regional offices maintain relationships with grantees and a knowledge of unique local needs. Staff may meet regularly with program directors to problem solve and are uniquely positioned to help programs navigate the grant process and access resources that are essential to continuing the delivery of safe, high-quality services. For example, following Hurricane Sandy, staff from Head Start’s Region 2 office provided essential support in securing funding for a new Head Start facility in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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Abrupt office closures leave Head Start programs in limbo
On April 1, 2025, HHS announced the immediate closure of five regional offices, which served grantees in 22 states and five territories:
- Region 1 office in Boston: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont
- Region 2 office in New York: New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
- Region 5 office in Chicago: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin
- Region 9 office in San Francisco: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam
- Region 10 office in Seattle: Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington
Head Start providers and grantees did not receive direct communication from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) about the closures until two days later. Instead, many learned of them through word of mouth and social media posts. There is no clear transition plan to support grantees left without a designated regional office; the abrupt closure of five regional offices has created confusion and concern about who grantees in these areas should communicate with, whether they will receive any technical assistance as they prepare for their next round of grant applications, and whether they will be able to continue offering services to families. The next round of Head Start grantees expect grant payments on May 1, 2025, but many now fear delays in the processing of their applications. Head Start programs that operate on thin budgets rely on regional offices for reliable delivery of operating funds and support to keep their doors open. Any delays or disruptions in grant funding will affect programs’ ability to pay staff, rent, and utilities, and could result in program closures.
Disruptions to Head Start funding have already affected program delivery
Examples of Head Start funding disruptions and program closures demonstrate the early impacts of the chaos that the Trump administration has caused for children and families:
- A Head Start center in Sunnyside, Washington, was forced to close indefinitely after HHS failed to deliver critical grant funding. The program, which served more than 400 preschool children and employed 70 staff members in a rural community, should have received a notice of award for part of its annual funding that would have gone into effect May 1, 2025. With no response from HHS to confirm continued operating funds and no guarantee of paying staff, program administrators made the decision that they would need to close on April 15, 2025.
- As of April 11, the Trump administration began requiring Head Start grantees to follow new steps to justify line-by-line expenditures of already-awarded funding in the Payment Management System (PMS), including for previously approved budget items such as payroll and rent. Grantees must certify that funding is being spent in alignment with Trump administration priorities, and funds are not released to grantees until federal officials review and approve drawdown requests. Grantees have received inconsistent guidance on how to navigate the new mandate, and many grantees have faced delays in accessing necessary funding. Several grantees are awaiting approval from regional offices to fund necessary facility repairs. In Washington state, for example, programs were awaiting approvals to replace downed fencing around a playground as well as a broken refrigerator when the Region 10 office abruptly closed, leaving no clear process for accessing funding.
The loss of regional office staff who are knowledgeable about local needs, challenges, and disruptions in access to technical assistance and administrative support could negatively affect program quality for children and families. Although regional offices remain open in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City, and Denver, programs across the country are likely to face disruptions in grant delivery and access to necessary resources, as fewer federal staff will be available to support grantees and remaining offices potentially will be tasked with higher caseloads.
Already, states have experienced delayed Head Start payments from the federal government. From January 1 to April 15, 2024, states and territories received $2.55 billion in Head Start funding, but over the same period in 2025, states received only $1.67 billion—a nearly $1 billion (34 percent) decline, despite level funding of the program at $12.27 billion across fiscal years 2024 and 2025. While almost all states received less federal funding from January 1 to April 15, 2025, compared with 2024, states and territories affected by regional office closures received 41 percent less funding in 2025 while those with open regional offices received 26 percent less funding.**
Conclusion
For 60 years, Head Start has provided nearly 40 million children and their families across the United States high-quality health, educational, and developmental services that have a proven record of preparing children for kindergarten, improving family economic mobility, and promoting overall health and well-being. Regional Head Start offices play a key role in ensuring that local programs have the resources they need to continue offering early learning and developmental services that are tailored to community needs. The abrupt closure of five regional offices is yet another Trump administration action that jeopardizes program access for more than 800,000 children and families who rely on Head Start each year.
* Center for American Progress analysis based on data retrieved from the Administration for Children and Families in December 2024, on file with the authors.
** CAP analysis based on 2024 and 2025 data from HHS.