Sacramento, CA- Last night the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with baseless accusations and zero evidence, froze funding for vital anti-poverty programs that serve California’s most vulnerable children and families.  

The federal government is subjecting California to punitive paperwork and bureaucratic barriers in order to continue funding through:  

●       The Child Care and Development Fund 

●       Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, known as CalWORKs) 

●       The Social Services Block Grant 

These demands include the request for sensitive personal information that local providers such as child care centers are prohibited from collecting. The consequences of this action will be immediate and dire for the millions of California families who rely on these programs to survive: this freeze will make it harder, if not impossible, for families to make ends meet and survivors of domestic violence to escape abuse. Parents who lose their child care will struggle to stay in school and at work, and children will face hunger and a risk of homelessness by losing these critical resources. 

Children will suffer most: More than three quarters of all of California’s TANF recipients are children.  

Even a brief period of poverty has long-term consequences for children. The toxic stress and deprivation affect their brain development, and significantly raises the risk of perpetuating the cycle of poverty 

Child care provides vital growth and learning opportunities for our children, and is part of our nation’s economic backbone, supporting parents to fully participate in higher education and the workforce. 

TANF provides concrete supports proven to prevent families from falling into crisis, family separation, and children entering into the child welfare system. HHS’ actions are guaranteed to undermine that prevention, with devastating consequences for children and far greater fiscal costs to the federal and local governments.  

This continues this Administration’s attack on programs proven to lift children and families out of poverty, most recently seen in the disruption of federal food assistance for the first time in the history of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, known as CalFresh). 

If HHS wants to improve the use of taxpayer dollars, they should prioritize helping children eat, helping parents succeed in getting their degree and finding stable work, and preventing children from suffering through family separation and entering the child welfare system. 

We call on HHS to immediately rescind this action and restore stability to these vital programs that help families meet their basic needs and create pathways out of poverty.  

County Welfare Directors Association of California 

GRACE/End Child Poverty California  

Western Center on Law & Poverty 

Parent Voices California