Delaware
Delaware nonprofits detail impact federal funding freeze would mean to providing services
Arizona AG Kris Mayes speaks at Operation Double Down news conference
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes called President Trump’s order to freeze federal funds “insanity.”
The impacts of the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze on Delaware nonprofits and recipients of their services, if allowed to happen, became a little clearer in a survey released by the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement.
Results from the survey released on Thursday found there would be reductions in vital services for things such as health, housing, food and education. One center said more than 2,000 older adults who rely on food through a Nutrition Services program would no longer receive those meals.
“This entire situation is unprecedented,” Sheila Bravo, the alliance’s president and CEO, told Delaware Online/The News Journal. “This is the first time there ever has been a threat to this degree of federal funding being cut or eliminated altogether for nonprofits.”
Last month, Trump signed an order freezing federal grants to states and cities. Trump’s order was stopped on Jan. 31 when a federal judge in Rhode Island agreed with a coalition of state attorneys general – including Delaware’s – who had filed a lawsuit asking U.S. District Judge John McConnell to pause the freezing of the funds.
The coalition returned to McConnell earlier this month, saying Trump’s administration was not complying with his court order to unfreeze federal funds needed for critical programs and services.
By withholding the nearly $3 trillion that had already been approved by Congress, the coalition said many states could face cash shortfalls, making it difficult to administer basic programs such as funding for health care and food for children.
‘They are worried’
The Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement’s survey appears to be the first attempt to this extent to quantify and share how a funding freeze would impact Delaware nonprofits broadly.
The survey found that Delaware nonprofits, which serve more than 500,000 people, could face immediate and significant consequences should attempts to freeze, reduce or eliminate federal funding. Nearly 90% of respondents told the alliance that any halting on grants and loans “is extremely concerning to their operations.”
“Several executive orders directly impact the work of nonprofits, and (the alliance) has been inundated with questions and concerns from nonprofits across the state,” Bravo said. “To put it bluntly, they are worried.”
“(The alliance) wanted to attempt to quantify the very real risk that these federal actions could have on Delaware organizations,” she said. “Federal funding is essential for them to continue offering services to residents. We are sharing the information, along with the examples of services some nonprofits would be forced to discontinue, to help the public more fully understand the impact these federal actions can have on services they rely on.”
The survey, consisting of more than 300 completed responses, found that more than 80% said freezing federal funding would have a notable fiscal impact, with 62% saying the effects would be immediate.
Of the organizations that said they would take a fiscal hit if the federal funds were halted, the Delaware alliance said 44% provided dollar amounts totaling $229 million in direct federal funding and federal pass-through funds from the state, county or a municipality that would be frozen. Most of these funds, $211 million, would be lost this budget year.
Respondents also shared examples of the impact that the funding issues could have on the residents they serve, including:
- Reduced access to vital services for health, housing, food, security, education and arts and culture
- Mental health and trauma experienced by those who are losing access to services
- Fear and harassment of immigrants, whether documented or undocumented
- Loss of housing and learning
- Inability to get a job
At least two organizations named in the alliance’s release provided specific examples of how their operations would be impacted.
The Modern Maturity Center, a Dover center that serves seniors in Kent County, said they would not be able to provide adult day care services, caregiver resource services or senior employment opportunities; the administration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would have to be discontinued; and more than 2,000 seniors who rely on food through the Nutrition Services program would no longer receive those meals.
Prevent Child Abuse Delaware, which for more than 45 years has provided resources to help prevent child abuse and neglect, said they would likely lay off workers, scrap a possible partnership with state agencies on infant early childhood mental health consultations and cease community programs building protective factors for at-risk families.
The alliance said it has partnered with Delaware Community Foundation, United Way of Delaware and Philanthropy Delaware to provide resources to nonprofits and residents impacted by this federal action and other executive orders.
Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.
Thomas Jefferson University is opening a regional campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Delaware, an effort that will result in the state’s first medical school.
Jefferson beat out three other bidders to establish the four-year program in partnership with the state. The other bidders were the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, Spotlight Delaware reported.
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The inaugural class of 40 medical students will begin instruction in July 2028. Initially, the campus will be based at the University of Delaware in Newark, with Jefferson faculty providing instruction. A permanent home for the campus is still being finalized, the Inquirer reported.
The medical students will receive 18 months of preclinical training on campus before receiving clinical training from healthcare providers in Delaware’s southern counties, where the state’s physician shortage is most deeply felt. That shortage is compounded by an aging population, Delaware officials said.
“Jefferson is committed to being part of the solution to Delaware’s physician shortage,” Jefferson CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione said in a statement. “We are proud to help build a future where every Delawarean has access to the care they deserve. Jefferson is all in.”
The school’s creation is being supported by $157.4 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Delaware is one of three states without a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program. Since the late 1960s, Jefferson and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine have reserved seats for Delaware students.
“Sidney Kimmel Medical College has trained generations of physicians for more than 200 years, more than any other medical college in the country,” Said Ibrahim, dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, said in a statement. “It is a privilege to bring our mission to Delaware’s patients and communities.”
Jefferson has announced several expansions recently. The university is establishing a full-time doctor of nursing practice-nurse anesthesia program and several online graduate programs at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Center for Healthcare Education in Lehigh County. It also is opening a satellite respiratory therapy lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.
Delaware officials said medical students will start their classroom instruction at UD and then do their clinical training at offices and health care systems in Kent and Sussex counties, where the shortage of doctors is most acute.
However, ChristianaCare, which has its own partnership with Jefferson, is not participating. The state’s largest health care system was part of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s unsuccessful bid to operate the school. In a joint statement from ChristianaCare and PCOM, the two organizations expressed disappointment with not being part of the consortium of higher education institutions and healthcare organizations.
“The path forward raises genuine questions about whether the school’s goals can be fully realized without ChristianaCare’s meaningful participation in its clinical training mission,” it said. “The success of any four-year medical program depends not just on an academic institution, but on a true and committed partnership with its clinical partners — one built on shared mission, mutual investment and trust developed over time.”
Students in the first class can get their tuition subsidized, covering all of their education costs, in exchange for an agreement to work in rural Delaware for five years.
Running the medical school is expected to cost Jefferson $78 million over the next five years. The money is from a federal rural health grant through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which congressional Republicans created in the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”
The program will give $50 billion to every state over five years, though exactly the total each will eventually receive is unclear. Half of the money is to be distributed equally to states and the other half is awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services based on a variety of factors.
The state applied for $1 billion late last year to improve health care in Kent and Sussex counties. The Trump administration has so far allocated Delaware $157 million. Delaware is expected to receive at least $500 million over the life of the fund.
Delaware Ohio Housing Growth
A look at the rapid expansion of housing developments in Delaware, Ohio.
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Every few weeks Delaware city approves a new housing development. The city has more than 4,000 housing units in its development pipeline, contributing to the rapid growth in one of the fastest-growing counties in Ohio.
A crash shut down U.S. 42 in Delaware County in both directions June 2.
As of 7 a.m., U.S. 42 was closed from U.S. 23 to Jegs Place near the Delaware Municipal Airport.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured in the crash or when the roadway would open.
This is a developing story and will be updated
Public Safety and Breaking News Reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at bagallion@dispatch.com.
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