‘Catastrophic’: fears for families after Trump officials cut $10bn in social funds

Health department's decision to freeze money for childcare and for families in need could lead to disaster, experts say

The Trump administration's sudden decision to freeze $10bn worth of federal funding for childcare and needy families has not only already thrown the US childcare system into mass confusion, but could also lead to disaster for hundreds of thousands of families within weeks, experts say.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced late on Tuesday it would block California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York from drawing down money from three major social safety programs over serious concerns about widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars in state-administered programs". In order to access the funding, the Democratic-run states must provide the Trump administration with extensive documentation to allay the fears of fraud.