The Trump administration’s closure of Chicago’s regional Head Start office and planned elimination of federal funding for Head Start programs has left many low-income Evanston families in limbo and several local childcare providers bracing for impact.

Head Start is a federally funded initiative launched in 1965 as part of former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “war on poverty” that offers early childhood education, health care and family support services to about 800,000 young children and pregnant women each year.

Stephen Vick, executive director of the Infant Welfare Society of Evanston, which runs two classroom-based programs in Evanston, said while the proposed cuts aren’t entirely surprising, their sweeping nature is cause for concern.

“I think we were all taken aback by how fast things have moved and by the lack of a fine-tooth comb,” Vick said. “They’re going in with a sledgehammer.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services allocated about $12 billion to Head Start in fiscal year 2025, but Trump’s proposed 2026 budget would eliminate federal funding for the program altogether, according to reporting by The Washington Post.

Vick said he learned of plans to defund Head Start through Project 2025 — a policy agenda crafted by conservative think tanks during Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign that explicitly calls for dismantling Head Start. Still, Vick emphasized that programs like those at IWSE have historically enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington.

IWSE operates with a $4 million annual budget and employs about 50 full-time staff, Vick said. The organization’s programming includes a Teen Baby Nursery in the city’s 5th Ward that specifically supports the children of teen parents.

Currently, IWSE also partners with Evanston/Skokie School District 65 as a subrecipient of the district’s federal Early Head Start grant. That partnership, however, is slated to end in June 2027 as the district looks to cut costs and reduce its reliance on external childcare providers.

Although District 65 funds make up about 25% of IWSE’s budget, Vick said he’s concerned other key funding streams, including the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program, could be jeopardized by potential spending cuts.

At the Childcare Network of Evanston, Head Start and Early Head Start grants account for about half of the organization’s budget, Executive Director Carol Teske said. Those funds allow CNE to provide a wide range of services — including early childhood education, mental health support and nutritional guidance — to low-income Evanston families.

“It’s not just serving the child who’s enrolled — it’s about serving the entire family in any way we can,” said Deepa Mehta, the director of programs at CNE.

Recent administrative changes have raised concerns that the Trump administration is already working to undercut Head Start programs, Teske said. 

In addition to looming budget cuts, the federal government has frozen several grant portals and abruptly closed five regional Head Start offices, including the Chicago post that oversaw programs in Illinois and five neighboring states.

Mehta said her organization’s designated point person at the Chicago office offered vital support.

“She was the middle person between us and the Washington, D.C. Office of Head Start,” Mehta said. “Any compliance questions, any grant questions — all of those communications would have gone through her.”

CNE officials said they did not receive any advance notice of the closure and instead learned through news reports.

Moving forward, Vick said his organization’s priority will be to “empower parents” to advocate for themselves. That means encouraging families to contact their legislators, organize within their communities and speak out in defense of the Head Start program, he said.

Both Vick and Mehta emphasized the importance of maintaining open and honest communication with parents who might be affected by spending cuts.

“The goal, in my opinion, of this administration is to create fear,” Vick said. “So we’re trying to have the approach of, ‘Let’s be honest with our families, and let’s give them facts.’”

That messaging, however, has been difficult to deliver amid growing uncertainty. Without clarity from federal agencies and with key administrative contacts suddenly inaccessible, local providers said they’re often left without answers themselves.

Teske said recent conversations with families have involved “lots of scenario planning” and have been “emotional,” primarily because most low-income parents know what they stand to lose if Head Start is dismantled.

“Some of our families — we’re like their family. We’re their only kind of support right now,” Teske said. “Basically, we’re taking away their safety net, and anybody in that position is going to be very uncomfortable.”

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