U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

A federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington heard arguments in a case of the American Civil Liberties Union against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The case is regarding the early education program Head Start.

More than 400 children in Central Washington are returning to their classrooms following the arrival of federal funds for Early Head Start and Head Start programs at Inspire Development Centers. The organization offers early childhood education programs to low-income children through various centers.

Suspensión de los programas Early Head Start y Head Start afecta a siete Inspire Development Centers en el centro de Washington, dejando a más de 400 niños sin apoyo educativo después de que la financiación federal nunca llegara. También provocó el despido de más de 70 personas.

More than 400 children in Central Washington are without educational support services after federal funding did not arrive. Dozens of staff members were also dismissed.

For people seeking medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorder in some rural Washington communities, there could soon be more options. Recent grant funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been allocated to develop medication-assisted treatment (MAT) at rural clinics.

Gay and transgender people will be protected from discrimination in health care, the Biden administration announced Monday, effectively reversing a Trump-era rule that went into effect last year.

The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Dr. Rachel Levine as assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services. The vote is a history-making one: Levine is the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.

Physicians, clinics and women's health advocates are looking to Xavier Becerra, Biden's nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services, to help swiftly unwind Trump-era funding cuts and rules that have decimated the nation's network of reproductive health providers over the past four years.

Joe Biden is nominating Pennsylvania health expert Dr. Rachel Levine to be assistant secretary for health in the department of Health and Human Services, in a move that could make Levine the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation.

The state official and former congressman would enter the job with a historic public health crisis raging. In his current role, Becerra has fought Trump efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.