Project 2025 funding cuts to programs for education, healthcare, poverty, hunger, disabilities, insurance, civil rights, nutrition, homelessness, discrimination, early childhood programs, child labor, and child abuse are all either underway or being proposed. Many of these cuts fall on largely volunteer‑driven organizations, where each funding dollar pays for community volunteers donating sometimes hundreds of dollars’ worth of services for children in need. While CASA National’s federal dollars were eventually returned, the fallout from unpaid and laid‑off staff is still evident in the organization’s ability to support its many (around 90) local CASA programs around the country.
Since this list was first compiled in 2025, advocates have continued to warn that cuts and restructurings tied to Project 2025 and allied budget proposals are advancing through negotiations and agency rule‑making rather than being fully abandoned. Major children’s coalitions, including the Campaign for Children, First Focus, the Urban Institute, and the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), report that child poverty and hunger are rising as pandemic‑era supports expire, more children are losing health coverage as Medicaid and CHIP protections unwind, and proposed reductions to nutrition programs, early childhood supports, and income security remain very much alive in congressional and administrative plans . At the same time, book bans, classroom censorship, and attempts to roll back civil rights protections for children with disabilities and LGBTQ+ youth continue to grow, often aligned with Project 2025’s vision for shrinking or dismantling federal roles in education and public health .
Warning: this is a long list—with links to sources. Children have no voice in the media or at the Statehouse. They do not vote, cannot file lawsuits on their own, and in the United States still lack the protections of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Share your voice for children and share this information widely. Especially, call your State Representative and Senators and share this post with your lawmakers (find them here) with a note about how you feel about dismantling established programs that give children what they need to thrive and live productive lives.
CWLA warns that these cuts and eliminations would make millions of children less safe, rip away supportive services from families, and drive more families to the brink of involvement with the child welfare system. They describe the scale of these proposed reductions as potentially “decimating the human services field,” with far‑reaching consequences for child safety, well‑being, and family stability (https://www.cwla.org/leaked-administration-plans-to-request-massive-cuts-to-hhs/)(https://www.cwla.org/hhs-restructuring-hits-acf-hard/)(https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/leaked-budget-hacks-safety-net-leaves-child-welfare-alone/260514). This reporting includes AI‑driven search results.youtube
Limits on health and nutrition supports
Cuts or eliminations are proposed for key children’s health and safety programs, including Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) initiatives, Youth Violence Prevention, firearm injury research, Teen Pregnancy Prevention, maternal and newborn health (e.g., Healthy Start, parts of Title V), and children’s mental health programs (including tribal and LGBTQ+ programs). Federal proposals and rules that restrict immigrant families’ access to Medicaid, SNAP, and other basic supports are expected to push more children into poverty, worsen health, and increase child‑welfare involvement.
Immigration and Medicaid policy changes create a “chilling effect,” causing immigrant parents to delay or skip care for their children; recent data show about three in ten immigrant parents report their children went without needed health care in the past year. A proposed Department of Homeland Security “public charge”‑related rule would further deter immigrant families from accessing health, nutrition, and other basic supports, increasing child poverty, stress, and risk of maltreatment and trafficking.
Immigration and immigration‑related benefits rules
A broader set of immigration enforcement and benefit‑restriction policies heightens fear in immigrant communities, leading some children to avoid school and services and undermining their educational and health outcomes. Policies and proposals that explicitly target immigrant children in federal rhetoric and planning (including references to “putting kids in cages” in critiques of Project 2025) normalize harsh treatment and detention of children and increase trauma.
Education funding, access, and censorship
Federal officials have withheld or disrupted Congressionally appropriated K–12 funds—including a pause on roughly $6.2 billion and attempts to block access to remaining pandemic recovery funds—creating instability in school supports that particularly benefit vulnerable students.
Project 2025 and related blueprints seek to shift education away from serving all students and toward “schools serving parents,” including plans that would disenfranchise about 90% of students and weaken federal protections for marginalized groups. Children have no rights in America until they are 18 (no standing in court or right to make their own decisions). Because the U.S. is the only nation in the world that has not signed the United Nations Rights of the Child Treaty, children who marry at 13 or 15 do not have the legal right to sue for divorce until they are 18.
Federal‑level pushes aligned with book bans and classroom censorship campaigns restrict what children—especially LGBTQ+ students and students of color—can read and learn, undermining inclusive and developmentally appropriate education.
Child care and early childhood
Project 2025‑aligned plans would drastically restructure or roll back federal early childhood and child‑care programs, including the elimination of many high‑quality, affordable child‑care slots under the Department of Health and Human Services. Proposals that limit family choice in child care without offering alternatives will harm children’s early learning, increase stress on families, and worsen the national child‑care shortage. Cuts to early childhood initiatives (e.g., certain home‑visiting, infant and toddler supports) weaken the foundation children need in their earliest years.
Civil rights, LGBTQ+ protections, and censorship
Plans in Project 2025 and related efforts aim to roll back federal civil‑rights protections for LGBTQ+ students, including undoing guidance and enforcement that safeguard them from discrimination in schools. Increased federal alignment with book bans and restrictions on teaching about race, gender, and U.S. history disproportionately harm students of color, LGBTQ+ students, and others who need affirming curricula.
Reduced federal grants and enforcement resources for civil‑rights offices in education weaken oversight of discrimination and disability rights for children.
Child welfare, foster care, and juvenile justice
A new federal law titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” P.L. 119‑21 (2025), which the Youth Law Center warns will significantly harm children and youth in foster care and juvenile justice, cuts supports and destabilizes already vulnerable young people. Ongoing federal Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR) standards and financing structures require costly state compliance without necessarily ensuring successful outcomes, contributing to chronic underperformance and strained services.
Broader federal budget and policy choices that reduce funding for prevention and family‑support services are expected to drive more families to the brink and increase foster‑care entries instead of strengthening families.
Policies specifically harming immigrant children
A proposed DHS program would effectively “pay children to return themselves to harm” by incentivizing unaccompanied children to go back to dangerous conditions, which advocates describe as fundamentally abusive and contrary to anti‑trafficking and child‑protection principles. Federal benefit and immigration‑rule changes push immigrant families deeper into poverty and fear, raising risks of trafficking, exploitation, and child‑welfare involvement.
Sustained enforcement practices cause children to experience sleep problems, eating problems, school difficulties, and behavior issues because of immigration‑related stress; about 18% of immigrant parents report such impacts on their children since early 2025.
Large‑scale policy blueprints (Project 2025 and similar)
Project 2025, a detailed conservative governing blueprint, is described by child advocates as a plan that would eliminate many early‑learning and child‑care programs, increase child hunger, limit children’s health care, and strip children of certain rights while claiming to “protect” them. The plan’s emphasis on reducing federal roles in child‑serving systems (education, health, nutrition, early childhood) without replacement supports would destabilize services for millions of children.
From May 1, 2025: specific federal policies impacting child well‑being
Terminated $1 Billion in mental health grants for schools – Cuts to school‑based mental‑health grants remove supports at a time when youth suicide and mental‑health crises are rising.
DEI crackdown and changes in schools – Efforts to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion work in schools weaken support for marginalized students and staff.
How schools are changing – Federal and state‑level changes are shifting schools away from inclusive, well‑funded public education toward polarized, under‑resourced systems.
Cuts to essential programs for children
Medicaid and CHIP reductions: Proposals from the Republican Study Committee, Project 2025, and the House Budget Committee call for deep cuts to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which together provide health coverage for millions of low‑income children. These cuts could reduce these programs by more than half, threatening access to medical care for vulnerable children .
SNAP and nutrition programs: The same proposals would slash funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), reducing average benefits for over 40 million participants, including children. School meal programs are also at risk, contributing to rising food insecurity and hunger among children .
Head Start elimination: Project 2025 and recent administration plans aim to eliminate Head Start, a federal early‑childhood education program serving over 800,000 low‑income children. This would remove a critical support system for early learning, health, and family engagement, especially harming rural and low‑income families .
Reductions in income security programs: Proposed budgets would cut income supports such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit (CTC), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), all of which help lift children out of poverty and provide basic financial stability .
Threats to education and civil rights
Elimination of the Department of Education: Project 2025 proposes dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, threatening federal oversight and funding for public schools, including programs for children with disabilities and those in low‑income communities .
Cuts to special education and early intervention: Funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Medicaid, both vital for children with disabilities, is at risk. Staff layoffs and reduced oversight threaten civil rights and educational support for these children .
Book bans and censorship: Federal efforts and political pressure to impose book bans, restrict classroom content, and increase censorship are growing, threatening students’ freedom to read and learn and disproportionately affecting marginalized groups .
Discrimination against LGBTQ+ students: Project 2025 and related policies seek to roll back protections for LGBTQ+ students, including rescinding federal civil‑rights guidance and enforcement in schools .
Other key threats
Child labor protections: Project 2025 proposes rolling back child labor laws, potentially allowing minors to work in more dangerous conditions with fewer protections, reversing decades of progress in child safety .
Attacks on immigrant children: Increased immigration enforcement, anti‑immigrant rhetoric, and efforts to undermine birthright citizenship create trauma and instability for immigrant children and those in mixed‑status families .
Reductions in child welfare and social services: Spending freezes and job cuts at agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services threaten child‑welfare programs, foster‑care support, and oversight of child safety .
Erosion of public‑health protections: Cuts to public‑health infrastructure and increased disinformation have led to the resurgence of preventable diseases among children, such as measles .
Current outcomes and trends
Rising child poverty and hunger: With the expiration of pandemic‑era supports, child poverty has more than doubled since 2021, and food insecurity is surging .
Increasing uninsured rates: More children are losing health coverage as Medicaid and CHIP protections expire .
Mental‑health crisis: Suicide rates and mental‑health challenges among children are rising, with inadequate federal response .
Homelessness and abuse: Record numbers of children are experiencing homelessness, and child‑abuse reports are increasing as family stress and service cuts mount .
Summary table: key programs and proposed threats
Copy and paste this table directly into WordPress.
CWLA’s detailed warnings
The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) has reported extensively on recent and proposed federal budget cuts and program eliminations that threaten child‑friendly programs across the United States. According to CWLA’s analysis of leaked administration plans and budget documents, key points include:
- Elimination of major early‑childhood programs: Head Start and Early Head Start, serving over 900,000 children and families, are targeted for elimination .
- Cuts to child safety and health programs: ACES, Youth Violence Prevention, Firearm Injury and Mortality Prevention Research, Teen Pregnancy Prevention, maternal and newborn health initiatives, and mental‑health programs for tribal and LGBTQ+ youth are slated for elimination .
- Reductions in child‑abuse prevention and family support: Community‑Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) and Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) discretionary funding are both being cut by about $10 million .
- Elimination of the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG): SSBG’s $910 million for child‑welfare services—including foster care, adoption, and support for vulnerable children—is targeted for elimination .
- Closure of regional ACF support offices: Five regional offices that provide technical assistance for child welfare, child care, and Head Start are being closed .
- Other service cuts: Additional eliminations and reductions include the Community Services Block Grant, LIHEAP, refugee support and medical services, youth homelessness prevention, and several rural health and substance‑abuse programs .
CWLA warns that these cuts and eliminations would make millions of children less safe, rip away supportive services from families, and drive more families to the brink of involvement with the child‑welfare system “decimating the human services field”.
FAQ:
Q1: What is Project 2025 and why does it matter for children?
A1: Project 2025 is a conservative governing blueprint that, combined with recent federal budget proposals, would sharply reduce or eliminate programs serving children Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, Head Start, education funding, civil rights enforcement, and child‑welfare supports leaving millions of children with less health care, more hunger, fewer early‑learning opportunities, and weaker protections.
Q2: Which children’s programs are most at risk from these cuts?
A2: Analyses by CWLA, Urban Institute, Campaign for Children, and First Focus highlight deep proposed cuts to Medicaid and CHIP, SNAP and school meals, Head Start and Early Head Start, IDEA and special‑education supports, income‑security programs like EITC and CTC, civil‑rights protections in schools, and flexible child‑welfare funding such as the Social Services Block Grant.
Q3: What can I do to push back against harmful cuts to children’s programs?
A3: You can share KARA’s reporting with friends and on social media, contact your State Representative and Senators using official directories, tell them which specific programs you care about, and ask them to oppose Project 2025‑aligned cuts and publicly support children’s health, education, and safety.
What you can do
WHEN YOU share KARA’s reporting with friends,
INSTAGRAM, and FACEBOOK, and most of all, your State Representative:
GET TO KNOW YOUR STATE REP
(they make the decisions that save or abandon at‑risk children)
Change will come a little bit faster. Small efforts over time = real results.
When enough of us become informed and speak up for at‑risk children,
we will improve their lives and our communities.
KIDS AT RISK ACTION / KARA / INVISIBLE CHILDREN
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