childcare providers and some parents are reacting as the state may be losing a billion dollars in federal funding.

>> Intended to provide childcare and support for low-income families.

It comes as the Trump administration announced it's withholding billions of social safety net dollar specifically from 5 Democrat led states alleging widespread fraud.

The administration has not released information about these fraud allegations.

Joining us now are 2 he Hamer and early childhood teacher at the North Lawndale YMCA, Tina Van der Worker, executive director of the Early Childhood Alliance of Niles Township and Carolyn Shapiro.

Professor of law and co-director of the Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States at the Chicago can't College of Law.

We did reach out to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Administration of Children in families for proof of these allegations.

But we did not hear back in time for this program.

My thanks to the 3 of you for joining us.

So this funding phase, it affects 3 specific programs.

It is the refunding pause.

Excuse me, the child Care and Development Fund temporary assistance for needy families in the social services block.

Grant.

Tina.

First to you.

Your organization connects families to child care programs.

How might a freeze pause, whatever it is like this?

How might that affect the family?

See work with?

It's tough definitely going to make it harder for families to figure out how to care for their Most of the families that we are connecting do qualify for.

>> The Illinois Child Care Assistance Program which is funded by the federal Child Care Development Block Grant.

It also is affecting quite a bit.

Are we have 49 different partner organization.

So number of child cares and it will be affecting them as well.

you know, may have to without see cap money in dollars coming into their program.

May have to close classrooms may have not be able to provide care for certain families.

it's a pretty widespread Ucc Capus, a child care assistance program and the state of Illinois runs with the dollars that are coming from these federal programs.

Give me a sense of some of these families, right?

But what why they need the support.

Yes, of the families that we are helping in large part need child care for their children so that they can work to afford rent, to put food on the table.

In many cases, one parents working full time or 2.

Parents are working full time.

One parent may taking classes as well and simply can't afford to not have both parents working to provide for themselves.

So to it.

You're an educator.

You work with families who benefit from the funding that is in limbo.

You're also a mother.

You personally benefit from one of these programs.

I think the Child Care Assistance Program as well.

>> What are your concerns with with hearing this?

>> It's scary.

Times are not looking.

No good.

Especially that we provide services low-income families.

Most of our students are located in what now typically is known as the party, lower-income neighborhood.

Yes.

I'm wary because not only are my families that we provide no care and services for.

It's been affected by that me as a parent, myself, my child, but hands home, they care.

And without her, I would maybe go to work.

I have to be a work 6.45 In the morning?

Here is open that early is >> and by the grace of God that she opens.

Earlier, we use that word madgen.

If I'm going through How many other fans out here is going do heartbreaking held.

You can do.

She's alive and needs care in the morning before she goes to school, South Korea early with us.

Carolyn.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has frozen funding to Illinois for any number of sectors.

>> Each time though it's been challenged in court.

Is this legal for the Trump administration to target specific states like this?

Only Democratic states are the ones with the fraud, right?

so >> That very hard to know what even the substance of the concerns are, which makes it hard assess their validity.

But I can tell you that one of the letters that administration sent to the state about one of those programs, the Child Care Development Fund doesn't really make a lot of sense.

When I read it, the letter says, well, we have concerns about systemic fraud and then talks about the possibility that noncitizens are people who are not legally entitled to receive to child care assistance under federal programs because of their immigration status are receiving these funds.

But then the information that the but the letter says it's going to demand of Illinois, which has nothing whatsoever to do with that.

It has to do with attendance, documentation.

So I read that and I think without again, with very little information, I read I think this looks pretextual based on what I can see here.

And, yes, the fact that the administration has singled out 5 states that are democratically led raises questions about whether this is retaliatory for other things.

And if so, is that illegal?

I think we haven't seen that particular claim raised as to a state.

I don't believe, but I think there are very strong arguments to be made that that would be illegal.

>> The governor's office provide information about how the state will be impacted specifically around 100,000 families with more than 152,000 children are served through the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program or see Cap, which is partially funded through the child Care and Development Block.

Grant TANF block Grant Pants Tanf grant supports thousands of licensed child care providers and every county in Illinois and the social services block Grant supports 275 organizations statewide through 17 program areas designed to protect the network of Illinois.

Human Service providers and ensure the health and welfare of children, seniors, people with disabilities and those facing poverty and food insecurity.

The state goes on to say that the funding to these programs account for about a billion dollars in state funding.

Tina, how widespread do you think the impact of this is going to be and have any of the providers that you work with?

Have they received any sort of notice about this cut?

I think there is a ripple effect that's not being talked about right now.

But it is not just families who receive this funding that are going to be affected.

>> think it's going to affect child care programs.

People are going to be out of work.

And this is also going affect full fee families who may attend these programs that were classrooms are getting shut down or programs are getting shut down.

People will be losing are missing jobs because their children don't have childcare.

So it's going to affect, I think pretty broadly, the whole economy.

And so, you know, hopefully we can, you know, get some movement that it doesn't last for very long child care programs just today received some notice from the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Just kind of restating what we already know.

But then also stating that they don't feel like this funding effect will well action that they will see an effect of this funding freeze for about a month, at least so.

And you know, this the state, I think, is hopeful things now work it out definitely makes it hard for programs to meet to plan.

you know, to think about their staffing, certainly for families as well to heed.

This isn't new territory for you.

You were a teacher back when Governor Bruce Rauner.

>> Was in Springfield and at the time there were cuts made to the child Care Assistance program, even then what was that like?

And it sounds like you are in some ways still recovering from that.

>> Yes, so now 10 years ago under Governor Bruce Rauner, the Illinois Chair Care Assistance Program suffered major cracks and we're still suffering.

Families are still struggling to find no quality child They need.

And childcare workers are still earning too little.

And that's causing a staffing crisis for child care centers who can't keep classrooms open.

>> But we can world at a time.

Thank you, Carolyn.

A so the Department of Health and Human Services, they have said that, you know, this is about making sure that there this action reflects our commitment to program, integrity, integrity, fiscal responsibility, comply All of that typically a process rather than just turning off the funds aren't on investigations.

We've speak.

So I'm not intimately familiar with all of these rent regulations, but yes, that would be the normal way of government interest question like this would be addressed.

It would be done carefully.

It would be done slowly.

It would be done through negotiation.

>> There wouldn't be this threat and speak it.

They do describe this as a temporary situation.

And so it's it is really hard to know based on what's been said, weather, the state's able to provide the information that's being asked for relatively easily, maybe it will be quickly resolved.

I just don't know, right will be administration of children and families is given the state until January 20th to submit personal data for All Tanf.

Ines sbg recipients.

And to prove that Illinois's verify the immigration status of recipients.

>> So we'll have this conversation conversation again a bit later on, but