Head Start centers told to avoid list of words in funding requests : NPR

Students help put away supplies at the end of a reading and writing class at a Head Start program in Miami in January 2025.

Rebecca Blackwell/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Rebecca Blackwell/AP

The federal government is requiring some Head Start early childhood programs to remove a list of nearly 200 words and phrases from their funding applications or they could be denied. This is what recently submitted court documents reveal.

The list of words includes “accessible,” “belonging,” “Black,” “disability,” “woman,” “minority,” “trauma,” “tribal,” and “women.”

The list was submitted Dec. 5, as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by Head Start programs in a handful of states — including Pennsylvania, Washington, Wisconsin and Illinois — against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration’s ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in federal programs conflicts with Head Start’s statutory mandate. This mandate includes, among other things, the provision of “linguistically and culturally appropriate” services as well as early intervention services for children with disabilities.

HHS did not respond to multiple requests for comment or clarity on the list.

Nationally, Head Start serves approximately 750,000 infants, toddlers and preschoolers, providing child care, early learning, free meals, health screenings and family support.

The list was revealed through the lawsuit as part of a recent statement from the executive director of a Wisconsin-based Head Start program that has received federal funding for more than 50 years. The program director, identified in the document by a pseudonym, Mary Roe, explained that she submitted a regular funding renewal request to HHS on September 30.

According to the statement, Roe received two emails from HHS on November 19. One briefly explained that their grant application had been returned and asked them to “please remove the following words from your application.” The email contained a list of 19 words, including “racism,” “race,” and “racial.”

Shortly afterward, Roe said in her statement that she received a second email, this one from her assigned program specialist at HHS, who wrote: “I wanted to follow up with you regarding your application. I sent it back to request the removal of particular words and wanted to provide you with the full list of words to ensure they are not included in your applications.

This second email included a list of nearly 200 words and phrases titled: “Words to Limit or Avoid in Government Documents.”

Both emails were included in the complaint, although the name of the program specialist was redacted. It is unclear if or how many other Head Start programs have received similar guidance.

In her statement, Mary Roe said the word ban put her in an “impossible situation” because the federal Head Start law contains many words that programs are now being asked to avoid.

One contradiction highlighted by Roe is Head Start’s longstanding responsibility “to create inclusive and accessible classrooms for children with disabilities,” she said. Yet HHS advised her to avoid the words “disability,” “disabilities” and “inclusion” in her funding application.

Roe also said she was concerned that removing such words might satisfy the current administration — but would go against existing law.

Disability rights advocates condemned the list, pointing out that many Head Start programs also receive federal funding through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, specifically to identify and support young children with disabilities.

“Banning the word ‘disability’ in Head Start is morally repugnant and a violation of federal law,” says Jacqueline Rodriguez of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. “No administration can claim to support children with disabilities while banning the very word that protects them.”

Separate court documents related to that lawsuit also show that a Head Start program located on a Native American reservation was asked to remove from its application sections necessary for the program to prioritize services for tribal members and their descendants — which is allowed under federal law.

The word “tribal” is also on the list of words to limit or avoid on Head Start applications.

In a January executive action, the White House said that “DEI and DEIA’s illegal policies not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding federal civil rights laws, but they also undermine our national unity because they deny, discredit, and undermine traditional American values ​​of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an illegal, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system.” »

In March, the Office of Head Start sent an email to all grant recipients explaining that it would no longer approve funding requests for activities “that promote or participate in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.”

See the full statement below. The list of words “to limit or avoid” begins on page 31.