A federal judge has halted the White House from further dismantling Head Start’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs by stopping its ban on “woke” language in federal grant applications, and preventing the Trump administration from laying off more workers from the Office of Head Start — for now.

The ruling from a federal judge in Washington State last week means Head Start programs across the country, which have faced heavy funding cuts, attacks on their administrators and massive nationwide layoffs, can keep their doors open for pre-K children from low-income households.

The injunction not only stopped the federal government from withholding funds from Head Start programs that participate in what they say are DEI initiatives but also prevents the Trump administration from laying off more employees from Head Start’s central office.

RELATED: Head Start Closures Could Derail Education for Black Children

Joel Ryan, executive director of the Washington State Head Start & Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, says in a statement that the ruling is “a huge victory for kids!”

The Trump administration’s assault on Head Start is “an attack on the fundamental promise of the Head Start program – that even children who are furthest away from opportunity should be given the early education they need to succeed in school,” Ryan says. The injunction, he says, “puts a stop to this attack and allows us to focus on what matters most – supporting children and families.” 

What Is Head Start And Why Is It So Important?

Created as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society agenda, Head Start is a nationwide federal program that provides free childcare and early learning for children from low-income households. Studies have shown that children enrolled in this program see significant educational and health gains. 

In 2024, the government funded Head Start to serve 716,000 infants and preschool children through community centers, family homes, and child care centers. About 29% of the youngsters enrolled in Head Start were Black. 

RELATED: Black Children Deserve to Be Children 

Ryan says many Head Start programs may still have concerns about moving too quickly with DEI programs out of fear of retaliation from the Trump administration. 

The Trump administration fired the entire staff in five out of 10 Head Start regional offices in April 2025, part of a restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services. The move affected Head Start programs in over 20 states, including in Massachusetts, California, New York, Illinois, and Ohio. 

In April, the ACLU filed complaints on behalf of several Head Start organizations, including those in Washington state, Illinois, and Wisconsin against the Trump administration. In the complaint, the organizations accused the Trump administration of illegally dismissing the Head Start staff. 

In a December lawsuit against DHHS and other federal officials, several Head Start organizations and two parent groups claimed that federal officials returned a Wisconsin Head Start program’s grant application for including prohibited words, including “marginalized,” “bias,” “gender,” and “diversity.” The officials later sent a list of over 200 words that are prohibited from use in federal grant applications. 

For Ryan, it is hard to think that the federal government is trying to ban the English language.

But “the more insidious part is that they are trying to erase communities, and whether those are communities of color, people with disabilities, Native Americans, they are trying to roll us back to a time of like the 1950s pre-Civil Rights Movement era,” he says.