The Trump Administration’s latest Reductions in Force (RIFs) across key federal agencies could inflict lasting damage on critical programs and services that support the well-being of children. RIFs have severely impacted agencies that oversee the majority of programs for children, especially the Department of Education (ED) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The new cuts compound layoffs the Administration made earlier this year, which will have significant negative impacts on children.
Many of the programs that experienced high-impact RIFs are the same ones targeted for elimination in the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget proposal, suggesting that Administration may be using the RIFs to implement the proposed budget objectives without going through Congress, which holds the power to fund federal programs. Numerous programs at ED and HHS will be unable to function with these staff losses and effectively will be eliminated. Federal investment in children has declined for the fourth year in a row, according to Children’s Budget 2025, and these RIFs are likely to accelerate that trend. It is critical to increase investments in programs that support children rather than reduce the staff responsible for delivering those services. To center children in federal budget and policy decisions, the Administration must immediately reverse these layoffs.
These RIFs also come as states begin struggling to manage more than a trillion dollars in funding cuts to Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which are set to take place over the next decade as a result of the recently passed reconciliation bill known as H.R.1. The states need federal staff support and guidance now more than ever to meet new program requirements and prevent confusion for families who rely on these essential health and nutrition services.
The following programs are among those whose reductions in force will have the greatest impact on the nation’s children.
Department of Education
The Department of Education is the one and only Cabinet-level agency committed exclusively to serving children. Over the last nine months, the Trump Administration has cut Department of Education (ED) staff by nearly 50%.
- Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS): OSERS is responsible for monitoring compliance and distributing funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The OSERS layoffs, which have left a skeleton staff in place, jeopardize the ability of ED to administer IDEA funding and ensure that the rights of students with disabilities are protected in schools. This result aligns with the Administration’s goal of moving IDEA from ED to HHS, which would remove the program from the supervision of seasoned education experts and disrupt existing parent support networks.
- Office of Elementary and Secondary Education: The Trump Administration laid off more than 100 staffers at the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, which houses the majority of K-12 and out-of-school time grant programs. The move jeopardizes the administration and oversight of key funding streams that support the academic success of U.S. students, including Title I, which supports low-income schools and represents the largest federal education expenditure. The staff cuts also threaten other programs, including those that serve migrant students, rural students, and students experiencing homelessness. For instance, Impact Aid, a statutorily required program that offsets lost local revenue in districts that are in or contain nontaxable federal property — such as military installations, Indian Trust and Alaska Native lands, federal low-rent housing, and national parks — will feel the squeeze. The program analysts let go from this Impact Aid administered payments, provided essential technical assistance, and ensured the program ran accurately and transparently. The loss of these employees threatens the continuity and integrity of the program and could shortchange some of the nation’s most vulnerable students, including many in very rural parts of the country.
- Office for Civil Rights: Significant reductions at the Office for Civil rights will make it difficult to enforce federal civil rights protections for students across the country. Without sufficient staffing at OSERS or the Office for Civil Rights, protections for students with disabilities could be at serious risk.
- Early Childhood Impacts: The Trump Administration eliminated the entire staff for both Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) and Preschool Development Grants (PDG), which could significantly impact the ability of college students to simultaneously parent and attend class, and the viability of some child care programs. More than 20% of college undergraduates are raising children, and CCAMPIS helps low-income student parents afford child care. PDG funds states to improve the quality and efficiency of their child care systems. Elimininating these offices will chip away at the nation’s already precarious — and unaffordable — child care system.
Department of Health and Human Services
The Trump Administration has undertaken massive reductions in force at the Department of Health and Human Services, from niche divisions to the iconic Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Services: The Administration terminated the entire staff of this office, dismantling the federal infrastructure of the Healthy Start program, which is the nation’s only federally funded, community-driven program solely focused on reducing infant death.
- Center for Injury Prevention and Control: Staff at this CDC center were among those let go, severely curtailing its work on gun violence prevention, childhood drownings, car crashes, and child maltreatment. Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens.
- Office on Smoking and Health: This CDC office has been similarly gutted, reducing its ability to continue work with state and local health departments to reduce youth tobacco and e-cigarette use and to administer the National Youth Tobacco Survey.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): Roughly 125 SAMHSA employees received RIF notices, including the entire Division of Children and School Mental Health. This division administers vital programs including the school-based mental health program Project AWARE, Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, and the Children’s Mental Health Initiative.
- Global Child Health: The closure of global health regional offices around the world and the dismissal of experts supporting global infectious diseases prevention, treatment, and surveillance including for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria have compromised outbreak detection and data collection. In April, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shuttered CDC’s Maternal and Child Health branch, which focused on preventing babies from getting HIV from their mothers and keeping children with HIV around the world alive and on treatment to suppress the virus. Remaining CDC staff have been ordered to cease collaboration with the World Health Organization, putting all children at home and globally at risk of emerging outbreaks and ending U.S. collaboration with other countries on health standards, surveillance, and responses to pandemics.
- Office of Community Services (OCS): OCS, which oversees key anti-poverty programs including the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), has experienced heavy layoffs. It remains unclear whether any staff remain to administer the LIHEAP program. The OCS layoffs appear to advance the Trump Administration’s goal of eliminating both LIHEAP and CSBG, as requested in the President’s FY 2026 budget proposal.
Conclusion
The latest round of RIFs erodes critical capacity needed to manage core government functions and provide critical services effectively. The dismantling of federal expertise and infrastructure jeopardizes not only the effectiveness of essential programs but also the ability to preserve the health, safety, and future of millions of children. To create federal policy that protects the nation’s children, the Administration must immediately reverse course and reinstate this essential workforce.