The Trump administration’s threat to withhold $1 billion in federal funding meant for Illinois social services and child care programs has families worried about their finances and child care providers scrambling for information.
“What is under threat right now are real families and children, quite literally. These programs are not political. They actually are inevitably important for families all across the state,” said Lauren Wright, the executive director of Illinois Partners for Human Service.
The proposed funding freeze will be directed toward three federal block grants, including the Child Care and Development Block Grant. That grant helps fund the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program, which serves around 100,000 families, including more than 152,000 children, according to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
“If with help I’m struggling, imagine without the little bit of help that the government provides … if the food keeps going up, gas keeps going up, child care keeps going up, and there’s less money coming in,” said Maria Ruiz, whose daughter attends a Chicago child care facility.
A spokesperson for Start Early, a nonprofit centered around early childhood and early learning, said currently no providers or families in Chicago area have been directly impacted by service disruptions, but parents and others are asking questions and expressing concerns, creating stress and distractions.
“The panic and the anxiety about this is very real. It’s causing a lot of confusion,” said Ireta Gasner, the vice president of Illinois policy for Start Early. “(This is) deeply anxiety-producing, especially for families who rely on care so they can go to work and for the providers where this is their livelihood. Many child care providers in Illinois are small business folks.”
The freeze, which also will affect four other Democratic-led states, is also set to impact the Social Services Block Grant, which supports 275 organizations statewide and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which supports thousands of licensed child care providers in Illinois.
Though Illinois leaders have called the action “politically motivated,” The U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services cites fraud as the reason.
“For too long, Democrat-led states and Governors have been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch,” HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement.
The funding freeze comes after a viral video that alleged widespread fraud at Minnesota child care facilities. A YouTube video from right-wing influencer Nick Shirley purported to show day care facilities that aren’t operational but receiving state and federal funding. Illinois child care advocates said the video has inspired copycat influencers in other states.
“Child care providers across the country have received some unwelcome visits from other social media influencers who have also claimed that they’re also investigating fraud which is not how fraud investigations work. These federal funding sources have baked into them many layers of guardrails and ways to operationalize fraud investigation,” said Nadia Gronkowski, the policy manager of national policy of Start Early.
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