The heads of at least two local human service agencies are concerned about the Trump administration’s plan to pause funding of federal loans and grants, pending an administration review to eliminate support of transgender rights, environmental justice and DEI initiatives.

A vaguely worded memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget, combined with incomplete answers from the White House throughout the day Tuesday, left lawmakers, public officials and average Americans struggling to figure out what programs would be affected by the pause.

While a federal judge eventually, but temporarily, blocked the push from President Donald Trump to pause federal funding while his administration conducts an across-the-board ideological review, the plan plunged the U.S. government — and states and organizations that rely on federal funding — into panic and confusion and set the stage for a constitutional clash over control of taxpayer money.

The order from U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan came minutes before the funding freeze was scheduled to go into effect. The administrative stay, prompted by a lawsuit brought by nonprofit groups, lasts until Monday afternoon and applies only to existing programs.

Before the judge blocked the order, Wendy Melius, executive director of the Center for Community Action, said funding was frozen for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care Program.

That freeze, which still may go into effect next week, would affect local families receiving rental assistance and the landlords who rent to them, Melius said.

“It could potentially cause an increase in homelessness,” Melius said. “(But) I don’t want anyone to be in panic mode until we can get answers.”

Her agency had been trying to get those answers, while also reaching out to landlords, encouraging them to be patient, if necessary, until funds are released; and to clients, to assure them that the agency is talking to the landlords, Melius said.

As she understands it, the pause could delay payments in the program for 90 days, until federal “studies” of the situation are done, she said.

The agency has some money that could fill in the gap, but that funding is limited, Melius said.

“We’re being proactive,” she said. “To provide some sense of ease — so we’re all in the same loop with what is going on.”

The idea is to “all work together to keep families housed and to make landlords whole,” in case the freeze begins to bite, she said.

The situation is reminiscent of the pandemic, when “we’re not sure what is going on,” she said.

Family Services Inc. Executive Director Lisa Hann is also concerned.

“(But) we don’t know enough yet about how our funding will be impacted,” Hann said.

She’s been watching for announcements from her organization’s funding sources, she said.

Family Services gets money from the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, all of which have sent alerts informing Family Services that they’re looking into the situation, Hann said.

Family Services has also received an alert from the state Office of Developmental Programs, which receives federal Medicaid money to help people with intellectual disabilities, Hann said.

That office encouraged Family Services to send a letter to elected officials to “keep us in mind,” Hann said.

In addition to programs that help people with intellectual disabilities, the agency’s Teen Center, Child Advocacy Center and Victim Services program could be affected by a funding freeze, Hann said.

The agency’s employees are reading things in the newspapers “and getting concerned,” Hann said.

“It’s not a time we want to add additional stress to the folks we serve or the folks who work for us,” she said. “I think we are all concerned about unnecessary spending in the federal government, but I do hope that necessary funding is seen to be such by the people making decisions.”

Municipal officials were tracking the situation Tuesday, but seemed to have fewer specific reasons for worry.

“We have to review the details of the freeze and evaluate those versus the programs we have in place,” said Interim City Manager Nate Kissell. “It’s a possibility (the freeze) would affect us to some extent.”

One way that might happen is with the Community Development Block Grant program — although its budget isn’t large, compared to the overall general fund, Kissell said.

CDBG money originates with the federal government, but is funneled through the state.

In any event, Kissell doesn’t expect any funding holdup for Altoona to be “showstopping,” he said.

Logan Township’s budget is mostly reliant on local property and earned income taxes, next heavily on state funding and least dependent on federal dollars — which comprises some grants, according to township Finance Director Tiffany Noonan.

Nevertheless, she’ll be looking into the situation in more detail, she said.

The township receives CDBG money every year, but will need to “wait for directives” on that, said Planning Director Cassandra Schmick.

“Who knows what it really means?” Schmick asked rhetorically.

“I don’t know what all impacts it will have on us,” said Antis Township Manager Doug Brown of the freeze. “I think it’s a little bit too early.”

Township officials will be monitoring the situation as it becomes clearer, Brown said.

Governors concerned

Governors across the country — including those of both parties — have been trying to figure out what the details of the freeze mean, according to Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who spoke with the media Tuesday afternoon.

The freeze is “incredibly worrisome to our team, to our Secretaries, to the budget secretary,” and it has created “systems issues relating to some really, really important federal (and) state initiatives,” Shapiro said.

Those include Career Link, Medicaid and Head Start, he said.

“We literally can’t access the payment systems and the computer systems that are used to run these programs,” Shapiro said before word of the judge’s stay was announced. It’s unknown if those systems are back up and running correctly.

Shapiro said he was “heartened,” however, that the White House is planning revised guidance and clarification.

“But regardless of what that looks like over the course of the next couple hours here, what they’ve done over the last, you know, day or so, has been really chaotic and really reckless,” Shapiro said.

The freeze had veterans and families with kids worried about getting the support they need, and governments led by both parties concerned about how they can run their day-to-day operations, the governor said.

A third of the state’s budget relies on federal money for matters like health care, transportation, environmental issues, public safety and veterans benefits, Shapiro said.

“I just want you to have a sense of how this works, and how when the federal government walks back a commitment it makes to states, how really detrimental that can be on the most needy in our communities,” he said.

The administration in Harrisburg will continue to track the situation, Shapiro said.

Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman is also “monitoring the repercussions,” he wrote in an emailed statement.

His office has received calls of complaint from more than a dozen agencies that have had their access to funds through the Federal Payment Management System cut off, he stated.

There are also reports of the state’s Medicaid portal being down, he wrote.

Such services “are critical to our most vulnerable (people), and I am calling on the president to immediately restore access,” he wrote.

The freeze is “illegal and unconstitutional,” according to a Pennsylvania Policy Center news release.

“It is likely to cause immediate and widespread harm to people and families across our state and the country,” the center stated.

Many uncertainties remain about the freeze order, and repeated clarifications from the Office of Management and Budget “have done little to clarify them,” according to the center.

On Tuesday, it was reported that the freeze was affecting funding for veterans services, public safety, seniors, schools, farmers, food security, rental assistance, housing rehabilitation and environmental protection, according to the center.

School districts ‘hit by surprise’

Area school districts may also be affected by a funding freeze, although to what extent is uncertain.

“We really don’t know how that’s going to impact public schools yet,” said Central Cambria Superintendent Jason Moore. “We’re hearing it’s going to be a temporary thing anyway. I would advise anybody: Don’t panic and just wait for further information.”

Cambria Heights Superintendent Ken Kerchenske said from a quick overall search, “we don’t think that this is going to impact schools.”

The district’s biggest sources of federal funding comes from Title I, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the national School Lunch Program, Kerchenske said.

“It looks like we won’t see any immediate effect to those revenue streams,” he said.

The freeze would apply to “discretionary grants,” but Kerchenske said he doesn’t know what’s classified as discretionary.

He worries the freeze could impact programs through the Appalachia Intermediate Unit 8. If IU8 temporarily loses funding, it could impact students at Cambria Heights, Kerchenske said, noting he doesn’t know what IU8 programs would be affected.

“It doesn’t appear that this freezing will affect any of our in-house programs,” he said.

“We haven’t heard too much about this. This kind of hit us by surprise.”

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella contributed to this story. Mirror Staff Writer

William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.