Post last updated at 9:31 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28:
Lawrence and Douglas County-based organizations are working to understand the potential effects of a possible freeze on federal funds provided to agencies nationwide.
Kansas Reflector reported that “The Trump administration will temporarily stop payments on multiple federal programs Tuesday evening, cutting off Americans who rely on what could be trillions in funding and setting off legal challenges over Congress’ constitutional spending authority.”
The move would halt funds while federal officials determine whether funding complies with the president’s executive orders meant to snuff out transgender rights, environmental justice, diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and more.
It was unclear exactly what programs would be affected, and a two-page memo from the federal Office of Management and Budget announcing the freeze led to significant confusion. Among concerns, online Medicaid payment portals have been inaccessible Tuesday; however, LMH Health did not see any disruptions to its system.
Update:
• Lawrence organizations keeping close watch as feds rescind memo freezing funds amid legal challenges, Jan. 29, 2025
As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that a federal judge has temporarily blocked the freeze until Monday, which could give service providers more time to determine how and whether they will be affected.
Here’s what we’ve heard from area agencies that could be directly affected.
Rental assistance
Shannon Oury, CEO of the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority, said it appears that rental assistance may not be affected by the pause.
She shared a follow-up memo from the OMB, which states — in direct conflict with an earlier memo — that “Funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance, and other similar programs will not be paused.”
“However, so far we have not received any guidance from HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) or OMB on how public housing subsidy and voucher rental assistance will be treated,” Oury said via email.
But Oury said that fortunately, LDCHA has sufficient reserve funds to operate for several months until the situation is clarified.
“We want to assure our residents and participating landlords that we will continue business as usual and no one’s housing is in (imminent) jeopardy,” she said. However, “The Housing Authority has other grants for capital projects and resident services that most likely will be impacted by this announcement.”
Meals on Wheels
Kim Culliss, executive director of Lawrence Meals on Wheels, said she had reached out to another local agency to try to find out what might happen to the program’s federal funds.
“In the meantime, Lawrence Meals on Wheels wants to assure all our clients that we will continue daily service at this time,” Culliss said via email. “We do receive Federal funding but we also rely on other grants, donations and funding sources. As always, we are diligently looking at other funding sources to help maintain our services now more than ever.”
She said the organization will share more information as they receive guidance.
“Taking funding from Meals on Wheels programs is not acceptable,” Culliss said. “We haven’t seen an increase in funding in years so any less that we receive is affecting services across all programs.”
WIC, public health programs
WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, provides assistance to families with infants and very young children. Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health administers the local WIC program.
“At this time, we do not have any additional information regarding the federal funding pause, and we will continue to operate as usual,” Jonathan Smith, executive director of LDCPH, said via email.
He said LDCPH understands the importance of staying informed, and they will provide updates via their website, ldchealth.org, and social media channels as soon as they become available.
“Please rest assured that we remain fully committed to providing essential public health services including federal programs such as WIC, Maternal and Child Health (MCH), and others to support our community,” Smith said.
Altogether, LDCPH received about $1.07 million in federal funds for fiscal year 2025, much of that via the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. About 54% of the total is for the WIC program.
Smith provided this information about the programs:
Program | Description | Federal funding (SFY / FFY 2025) |
---|---|---|
CDRR – Chronic Disease Risk Reduction | To address chronic disease risk through evidence-based strategies impacting tobacco use, physical activity, nutrition, social determinants of health and diabetes prevention | $55,630 |
PHEP – Public Health Emergency Preparedness | To prepare for health emergencies in collaboration with other agencies and enhance readiness through drills and exercises covering outbreaks, natural disasters and chemical incidents | $75,678 |
MCH – Maternal and Child Health | To provide family support, education, developmental screenings, and referrals for optimal family health across generations in Douglas County | $55,655 |
Childcare Licensing Program | To reduce harm risk in child care settings through provider support, compliance inspections, consultations and complaint investigations | $103,806 |
TPTCM – Teen Pregnancy Targeted Case Management | To offer case management for Medicaid-eligible pregnant/parenting teens to reduce pregnancy consequences, foster self-sufficiency and delay subsequent childbearing | $38,912 |
IAP – Immunization Action Plan | To support efforts to reduce and eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases causing disability and death | $7,897 |
CBCAP – Community Based Child Abuse Prevention | To strengthen families, prevent abuse/neglect, increase protective factors and engage partners through multidisciplinary services, and foster engagement of people who have lived experience | $151,801 |
WIC – Women, Infants & Children | To provide eligible women, infants and children with food, nutrition, education and community resource referrals | $577,303 |
Mental health services
Jeff Burkhead, a spokesperson for Bert Nash Community Mental Health center, provided a statement from CEO Patrick Schmitz.
“We are closely monitoring developments with our federal and state partners and are currently awaiting further federal guidance,” Schmitz said. “We understand that essential programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP will continue uninterrupted at this time. We are eager to learn more about the changes and their potential impact. These changes we are seeing can create uncertainty, so transparency and open communication will remain priorities as we navigate these changes together.”
An employee of the center said they had heard mostly speculation at this point, but that any grant programs could be affected, including programs that are currently housing people.
City of Lawrence
Potential impacts to city services were unclear as of Tuesday evening.
“There are multiple City of Lawrence departments who have programs and projects supported by Federal grant funding,” Cori Wallace, a spokesperson for the city, said via email.
Among departments receiving federal grant funding in the city’s 2025 budget are parks and recreation, the police department, planning and development, municipal services and operations, and Lawrence Transit.
“As you might imagine, these grants are complex, and the long-term impacts of this action are evolving and, to some extent, unknown,” Wallace said.
Representatives of several other area agencies and organizations had not yet responded to emails seeking information as of the time of the latest update.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.