On August 21, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families terminated all three of California's Personal Responsibility Education Program grants, citing the inclusion of content related to gender identity and transgender people that the agency said falls outside the program's authorizing statute. The termination letter, issued by ACF and released September 9, 2025, was effective immediately and affected three grants covering fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025.
The conflict began when ACF sent a noncompliance letter to California on June 20, 2025, instructing the state to remove all references to gender identity and transgender people from its PREP curricula within 60 days by August 19. The letter cited specific passages from four curricula, including definitions of transgender and gender identity, discussions of social and medical transition, and a statement that some men are born with female anatomy.
California's Department of Public Health responded on August 19 by stating it would not make the requested modifications. The state gave four reasons: the materials had already been reviewed and approved by ACF, they were medically accurate, the gender ideology content was relevant to the authorizing statute's adult preparation subjects, and ACF lacked authority to take the enforcement action. ACF's termination letter acknowledged the prior approval but said the previous administration had erred in allowing PREP grants to be used for gender ideology content because that approval exceeded the agency's authority.
Scale of the program
PREP is one of the federal grant programs authorized by Congress. Created in 2010, PREP distributes approximately $75 million per year to states for sex education. California's program uses the grant to serve roughly 13,000 youth each year through 20 local agencies, providing services in juvenile justice facilities, homeless shelters, foster care group homes, and schools. The state had already received some of the three grants, but HHS estimated the total unclaimed future funding at roughly $12.3 million.
California law creates a direct conflict with the federal demand. The California Healthy Youth Act, which took effect in January 2016, requires that comprehensive sexual health education instruction and materials teach pupils about gender, gender expression, and gender identity and explore the harm of negative gender stereotypes. The state has indicated it will not abandon that requirement.
Appeal and legal pathway
California has 30 days from receipt of the termination letter to submit a notice of appeal to the Departmental Appeals Board under federal regulation. A CDPH spokesperson repeated the state's position that its PREP curriculum is medically accurate, comprehensive, and age-appropriate. The outcome of any appeal could set a precedent for how far federal grant conditions can override state sex education mandates.
Broader federal pressure on other states
According to NBC 7 San Diego, ACF sent letters to all states and territories receiving PREP funding demanding removal of gender ideology content, not only to California. Oregon's Health Authority responded to the demand by stating the agency is committed to making sure people in every Oregon community can access the services they need. Oregon had not yet had its grant terminated as of the report. An HHS press release from HHS Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison noted that accountability will extend to every state that uses federal funds to teach children gender ideology.