Children, Youth, & Families Archives

Washington, D.C., January 5, 2026 — Last week, an ill-informed YouTube “influencer” accused child care centers run by Somali providers in Minnesota of fraud. In response to these accusations and without any further investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took immediate actions to freeze federal child care funding for Minnesota, to implement a “Defend the Spend” effort for all states, and to establish a fraud reporting website and hotline. Since then, numerous “influencers” have made similar claims against child care providers in other states.

Stephanie Schmit, Director of Child Care and Early Education at the Center for Law and Social Policy, said, “It is hard to see this as anything but politically motivated attacks on child care providers and reactions that will punish children and families nationwide. Child care providers of diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds offer critical, culturally competent care that meets the unique needs of the children and families in their communities across the country.” 

The Child Care and Development Fund is a lifeline for families with low incomes to access stable and reliable child care so they can go to work. Disruptions to this essential funding will only harm children, families, and providers.

While HHS has not yet released information about how it will implement “Defend the Spend,” the very brief implementation of the program in April resulted in delayed payments to states. This created barriers for families because providers, who operate on razor-thin margins, depend on timely payments from the states to run their programs. Because additional information has not yet been released, there is significant confusion and worry about the impact that this might have.

“Child care providers and state child care agency staff already put a lot of effort and energy into reporting how they spend their resources. Adding further reporting requirements to their overburdened workload will take their time and attention away from where it should be–focused on providing the best care possible for children,” Schmit said.

It is troubling that a federal agency would make such a destabilizing decision based on the unfounded claims of an “influencer” with a long history of videos that prioritize shock over facts. HHS should consider the actual impacts of any requirements on children, families, and providers, and make decisions accordingly.

If the new documentation requirements are the same or more onerous, providers that are chronically underfunded will struggle to keep their doors open, she said.

“We already know that child care providers don’t have a lot of additional time to do things like this,” Schmit said.

Wendy Cervantes, del Centro para Ley y Política Social, sostiene que la meta de la regla es “asustar a las familias”, lo que aumentaría pobreza, hambre y falta de vivienda.

Wendy Cervantes, from the Center for Law and Social Policy, argues that the goal of the rule is to “scare families,” which would increase poverty, hunger, and homelessness.

Immigrants are essential to the care workforce, making up 20% of child care workers, including 26% of center-based child care providers and early educators, and 23% of preschool teachers, according to the Center for Law and Social Policy.

The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) submitted a comment opposing the Department of Homeland Security’s proposal to rescind the 2022 public charge regulations without replacement. The proposed rule would intensify fear and confusion by failing to replace the 2022 regulations with clear standards or guidance. Instead, DHS signals that it may reinterpret public charge in the future. Without clear guidelines on what benefits may be considered, the proposal would trigger a renewed chilling effect, discouraging immigrant families from accessing essential health, nutrition, and housing supports. This would increase poverty, hunger, poor health, and housing instability, particularly for children, including U.S. citizen children. The proposal would also harm states, localities, and child-serving providers by undermining participation in programs designed to support economic stability and security. CLASP urges the Department of Homeland Security to withdraw the proposed regulation in its entirety and maintain the 2022 public charge regulations currently in effect.

One hundred, ninety organizations concerned with the well-being of children submitted a public comment to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) opposing a proposed rule that would provide the agency discretion to deny green cards based on factors such as an applicant’s health or use of any federal health or social services program.

Since taking office on January 20, the Trump Administration has repeatedly undermined families’ access to child care and early education—disproportionately harming families with low incomes and families of color—by forcing Head Start closures; sowing fear and uncertainty among children and families, particularly immigrants; and weakening the federal agencies that support early childhood programs. CLASP’s new fact sheet documents these actions, outlines efforts to defend critical programs, and makes clear the urgent need to protect providers, children, and families from further harm.

Suma Setty, senior immigration policy analyst for The Center for Law and Social Policy, a nonprofit policy think tank in Washington, D.C., says child care providers have also lost some of their workers with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) “because of fears of immigration enforcement.” DACA is a government program that allows for work authorization and puts a temporary hold on deportation for those who were brought into the country illegally as children.

Note: This article was republished by scores of media outlets across the country.

But the two biggest factors coming into play that are hitting families especially hard heading into the new year are the costs of childcare and health care, said Ashley Burnside, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy, or CLASP. “We can’t talk about affordability in this moment without naming the huge health care costs that families are now facing because of the expiration of the premium tax credits,” she said.

Lorena Roque, associate director for labor policy at CLASP, said she sees data showing that a lot of families are taking on two or more jobs just to make ends meet. But even that might no longer provide a full picture of who is struggling because the administration has been hostile to the kinds of data-gathering efforts that would give us a fuller picture of the economy, like the rates of Black and Latino unemployment.

The National Immigration Law Center and the Center for Law and Social Policy forged the Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition: a network of immigrants’ rights and antipoverty organizations. By combining expertise in both realms, the coalition has emerged as a powerful advocate for immigrant families.