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WASHINGTON, November 12, 2025 — More than 180 national, state, and local organizations joined First Focus Campaign for Children and the National Healthy Start Association today in demanding that the Trump Administration restore staff and guarantee funding for the only nationwide government program aimed at reducing infant deaths.
The Trump Administration terminated all staff of the Healthy Start program in October during the government shutdown. In today’s statement, 184 organizations demanded that the Administration reverse these Reductions in Force (RIFs), ensure full funding for the Healthy Start program in Fiscal Year 2026, and support passage of the Healthy Start Reauthorization Act.
“The United States has one of the highest rates of infant mortality of any wealthy country, and that rate continues to rise,” said First Focus Campaign for Children President Bruce Lesley. “Some states, such as Mississippi, have even declared infant mortality a public health emergency. But rather than being ashamed, our nation’s leaders have chosen to effectively eliminate the one and only federally funded program aimed specifically at curbing infant deaths. If the terminations stay in place, the program will have no staff, and members of Congress and the Administration have vowed to cut its funding as well. We call on Congress and the Trump Administration to restore these public servants, fully fund Healthy Start, and ensure the program’s continuation so that we can protect the nation’s newborns.”
Healthy Start targets communities experiencing the highest rates of infant mortality — those with more than 1.5 times the national average. With 115 sites across 38 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, the program provides intensive, community-specific clinical and social services to more than 50,000 pregnant women and their babies from pregnancy through 18 months postpartum.
First Focus Campaign for Children is a bipartisan advocacy organization dedicated to making children and families the priority in federal policy and budget decisions.
