The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Administration for Children and Families (ACF), announced on August 26 in a press release that it has demanded that 46 states and territories remove all references to gender ideology from their federally funded Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) educational materials within 60 days.
According to HHS, the action demonstrates the Trump Administration’s ongoing dedication to safeguarding children from “efforts to indoctrinate them with delusional ideology.”
Last week, ACF terminated California’s PREP grant after the state failed to meet its demand to remove gender ideology from its educational materials. HHS cautioned that states and territories receiving these new letters are now on notice: failure to comply will result in similar enforcement actions, including the withholding, suspension, or termination of federal PREP funding.
The 46 recipients of these letters include the following states and territories:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington D.C.
“Accountability is coming,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison in a statement. “Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas. The Trump Administration will ensure that PREP reflects the intent of Congress, not the priorities of the left.”
