The Trump administration has moved forward with mass layoffs in Head Start and closed regional offices across the country, including the San Francisco office that supports California programs. These closures threaten children’s health, safety and access to care—especially in communities already navigating systemic barriers. California is pushing back and standing up to these threats.
This is a gut check. If we say we value children and those who care for them, we need to show up now.
The front lines of health equity begin in early childhood.
Child care providers are an essential pillar of support for children’s well-being. Child care providers support families so they can work and provide for their children, guide healthy nutrition and serve as community anchors. Every day, child care providers push forward health equity for children in ways that are personal, powerful and too often invisible to policymakers.
Early health monitoring
Providers are positioned to notice developmental delays, behavioral issues, hearing or vision problems, These early observations matter—intervening before age 5 can change the course of a child’s life.
Nutrition and food access
Many child care programs, especially Head Start, serve two or more meals each day. That support helps fill the nutrition gap for kids in food-insecure households. For some children, child care is the only place they consistently receive fresh produce or protein.
Mental and emotional support
Child care providers offer safe, stable relationships that nurture emotional resilience. They teach conflict resolution, establish calming routines and create spaces where kids feel seen and valued—especially important for those experiencing trauma or instability at home.
Culturally responsive, community-based care
Many programs reflect the communities they serve, whether through language, traditions or trusted relationships with families. This cultural connection helps bridge gaps between families and health or education systems, which often underserve families of color, immigrants and low-income communities.
Access to services through trusted referrals
When providers have strong relationships with families, they become trusted messengers and partners for families. They help connect parents with much needed services such as speech therapy, housing support, maternal health care and social services, resources that might otherwise be missed.
The threat to Head Start is a threat to health equity.
When the federal government pulls back on support for Head Start—like it just did by closing regional offices—it’s not just an administrative inconvenience. It disrupts lifelines.
California’s regional office manages grants and provides federal oversight for programs that serve tens of thousands of children. Without that infrastructure, delays in funding, confusion in regulations and program shutdowns are all but guaranteed.
The message being sent to child care providers? You’re disposable.
The message to families? You’re on your own.
We reject that.
Action is the truest form of appreciation
If we truly want to honor child care providers, we must defend the systems they depend on to do their work.
Call your members of Congress today. Demand they reverse the Head Start layoffs and reopen the regional offices.
U.S. Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Sign this action letter to President Trump to save the Head Start program.
Children can’t wait. Providers can’t do more with less. And families can’t be left in limbo.
Child care providers deserve stability—not setbacks.
To every child care provider: You are the hands that steady a child’s first steps, the eyes that notice what others miss, the hearts that carry our collective future. You make health equity possible.
To every advocate and policymaker: Now is the moment to show whose side we’re on.
Appreciation without investment is just lip service. Children and families deserve so much more.
