What the federal child‑care funding freeze means for NY families

By Kerria Weaver

Jan. 20, 2026, 9:57 a.m. ET

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is demanding that the Trump administration abandon its efforts to freeze grants that provide child care assistance to thousands of families in New York.

According to a press release, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services froze access to certain federal child care and family assistance funds on Jan. 6 following concerns about widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars in state-administered programs.

The states impacted by this action are California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York.

This action applies to three programs overseen by HHS’s Administration for Children and Families — the Child Care and Development Fund, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Social Services Block Grant.

Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill said in a press release how this action reflects their commitment to program integrity, fiscal responsibility and compliance with federal requirements. “Families who rely on child care and family assistance programs deserve confidence that these resources are used lawfully and for their intended purpose,” Neill said in a statement.

Freeze sparks confusion among NY families and providers

Following a lawsuit filed by the targeted states, a federal judge temporarily blocked the action on Jan. 9 and issued a 14-day pause on the funding freeze.

Despite this pause on the freeze, Gillibrand said this action has sown uncertainty among parents, children and providers. She held a press event at The Children’s Agenda on Jan. 16.

Gillibrand said the funding freeze will harm tens of thousands of children in New York and threatens the livelihood of hardworking caregivers.

In order to help expand quality affordable childcare for America’s working families, Gillibrand proposed her bill, the Child Care Modernization Act.

“[This act] reauthorizes the child care development block grants, that was a program that was funded up until 2014 and hasn’t been renewed since,” Gillibrand said. “We need it back because it gives large chunks of money to governors to mete out the resources that our communities need.”

Larry Marx, CEO of the Children’s Agenda, said they need the federal government to recognize that childcare is a public good.

“It’s essential to the American way of life as public education and transportation. 90% of brain development happens before children reach kindergarten and children rely on safe and supportive care to grow and thrive,” Marx said. “Parents also rely on childcare settings to advance household incomes and businesses for recruiting and retaining a reliable workforce.”

Parents say child‑care system remains fragile

Jhalysa Johnson works in child psychiatry, but most importantly she is a mother of three who relies on child care assistance to live.

Johnson said she works with families every day and one thing she knows for sure is that child care is expensive in a very real and measurable way.

“This week I was just reminded on how fragile child care access really is. A small administration issue, not on my end, put my child’s daycare at risk and suddenly I’m facing thousands of dollars in cost I simply can not absorb,” Johnson said. “I was told if I don’t receive a payment by the end of today or a repayment plan by the end of next week, my children can not return.”

She said child care support programs are important, as they give parents breathing room and they make it possible for parents to show up to work without worrying.

“I firmly believe that New York is making the right moves towards expanding child care access through programs like the Universal Pre-K, Early Pre-K or 3-K,” Johnson said. “That tells parents that the state understands this is not lacking, this is not us not being able to afford child care, it’s not personal failure or a budgeting issue, but we need families to feel supported.”

Original story here: https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/ny-news/2026/01/20/this-will-harm-children-ny-condemns-trump-freeze-on-child-care-aid/88212288007/