PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Albina Head Start is challenging a recent federal court ruling that could threaten the future of the Portland-based early education program, according to AHS.

This stems from a lawsuit brought by Albina Head Start in August 2024 against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HHS found two "deficiencies" in Albina's program, requiring Albina to compete for its next five years of federal funding rather than receiving automatic funds, according to court documents.

Albina challenged HHS's decisions in federal court; however, in March, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of HHS.

Now, Albina Head Start is appealing the judgement.

“It’s critical that we fight this miscarriage of justice, not only for our program here at Albina but for other programs around the country that could also lose funding. Entire communities are depending on us,” said AHS Director Ronald D. Herndon.

The case

Albina Head Start initially filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in August 2024 after the federal agency found two deficiencies in Albina's program.

According to court documents, those deficiencies included teachers lacking necessary credentials. HHS gave Albina 120 days to correct the issue, but during a follow-up discovered Albina was still not in compliance.

AHS contested this -- arguing the deficiency was unwarranted because it was based on a limited number of staff with expired education waivers, the effects of the pandemic "challenged" staff and Albina prioritized training staff as they pursued their education. However, HHS declined to revisit its decision, court documents state.

The second deficiency stemmed from an incident in 2023 in which an AHS teacher assistant threw a wooden toy block at a five-year-old student during a scheduled nap time, "causing injury," and told the child to "'Shut up' and 'go to sleep,'" according to court documents.

Albina staff reviewed video footage of the incident and immediately terminated the teacher assistant. HHS found a deficiency in this case because Albina did not "ensure all staff refrained from using unacceptable discipline methods with children," court documents claim.

HHS later found Albina corrected this deficiency after the organization started a five-week new-hire training program with enhanced monitoring.

Under HHS regulations, these deficiencies subjected Albina Head Start to compete for its next five years of federal funding, rather than automatic funding approval, because the organization had at least two deficiencies in a five-year project period.

In their lawsuit, AHS argued that the federal agency incorrectly interpreted the definition of "deficiency" under the Improving Head Start Act of 2007, claiming, "the Act’s definition of 'deficiency' does not allow HHS to attribute the isolated actions of a rogue employee to the Head Start agency."

Albina also argued that Head Start standards of conduct are enforced by Head Start agencies, noting they terminated the relevant employee.

However, Judge Contreras wrote, "The court considers these arguments and concludes that neither is persuasive," adding, "By failing to ensure that physical abuse of a child did not occur, Albina fell out of compliance with the regulation."

The appeal

Albina Head Start is challenging Judge Contreras' ruling by filing an appeal on Monday.

AHS serves nearly 900 low-income and underserved children from birth through age five at more than 20 locations around Portland – including health, nutrition and social services, along with cognitive development programs. Having to compete for federal funding puts those programs at risk, Albina Head Start says.

“Albina could lose ten million dollars in federal funding, which is nearly half of our annual budget. This would result in a drastic reduction in services to the community," AHS Director Herndon told KOIN 6 News.

Edward Waters, an attorney representing Albina Head Start, explained, “The Department of Health and Human Services’ current policy interpretation surrounding ‘deficiencies’ contradicts the federal Head Start Act. Congress specifically intended to prevent isolated incidents being used by the Department to label Head Start programs as low performing or deficient. The law requires instead that before making such a determination, the Department must find that the Head Start agency itself, not a single employee acting improperly, systematically and/or substantially failed to comply with program requirements."

“Jeopardizing the funding of a stellar Head Start agency like Albina over a single, isolated staff incident sets an impossible standard that is damaging the entire program. It is not just Albina; over half of all ‘deficiency’ findings each year result from isolated incidents, incidents that are almost impossible to prevent. To disparage an entire agency due to the acts of a single person is inconsistent with the law and common sense,” Waters added.

The attorney furthered that the loss of federal funding could have long-term impacts, saying, "I think the destruction of the institutional knowledge, community relationships, and most importantly the fact that people in Oregon know and trust Albina, the goodwill aspect is completely discounted by falsely labeling Albina as low performing. Even if some or all of the funding is restored the reputational damage will take some time to heal."

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told KOIN 6 News the agency does not comment on pending litigation.