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NYC loses federal Head Start grant, Adams vows to fill the gap for a year
By
Jessica Gould
Published Sep 11, 2025
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New York City Public Schools
By
Jessica Gould
Published Sep 11, 2025
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New York City low-income families can continue to participate in city-run Head Start programs for at least another year after the Adams administration stepped in to fill a funding gap following the cancellation of a federal grant.
The lack of affordable child care in the city has been a top concern for parents, and a talking point in this year’s mayor’s race. The city’s Head Start program, which provides year-round child care to children ranging from infants to 4-year-olds for low-income families, supports about 6,000 infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
Education department officials confirmed Wednesday that the city had lost a federal grant worth about $78 million, which had been a key pillar of the city’s early childhood education infrastructure for at least a decade.
But Adams administration officials said the city will use its own funding to keep the programs running through the school year, though officials said it's unclear whether and how the programs will be funded after that. The federal grant was supposed to cover five years.
“We believe that investing in our youngest learners is one of the most important things we can do,” said Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos. “So when we first learned that there was a risk of federal Head Start funding cuts that could disrupt services for thousands of families, Mayor [Eric] Adams and our team immediately stepped up.”
The Adams administration had set aside additional funding for Head Start in the budget this spring in anticipation of potentially losing the federal grant.
Some of the city’s Head Start programs contract directly with the federal government and are still waiting for information about their grants.
Head Start was born in the 1960s as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s war on poverty.
“Overall this points to the need for universal access,” to child care, said Nora Moran, director of policy and advocacy at United Neighborhood Houses. She said the current early childhood system is fragmented, putting a greater burden on parents to navigate.
During his time in office, Adams has faced fierce criticism for proposing budget cuts to the city’s child care and free preschool programs before backing off some of those cuts. He has argued that his predecessor Bill de Blasio's administration mismanaged some of the early childhood programs, placing too many seats in some communities while placing too few in others.
The federal government had audited the city’s Head Start programming in 2023 and identified multiple areas of concern, citing problems with budgeting, payments and facilities. The city has struggled to pay early child care providers in a timely manner for years, prompting outrage from program leaders and local lawmakers.
News that the city would not be receiving the federal funding comes during a turbulent time for the decades-old initiative. Under President Donald Trump, the federal government has cut positions and consolidated offices, including in the regional Head Start office in New York.
Tagged
education
federal funding
nyc
Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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