The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $29.7 million to Hawaii providers serving Native Hawaiian children and families, with the funds expected to be distributed by today, following an agreement to extend federal funding for the Native Hawaiian Education Program for another year.

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The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $29.7 million to Hawaii providers serving Native Hawaiian children and families, with the funds expected to be distributed by today, following an agreement to extend federal funding for the Native Hawaiian Education Program for another year.

The funding is part of a $46 million extension negotiated by U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D, Hawaii) and Education Secretary Linda McMahon. The remaining funds are expected to be released in the coming weeks.

The Native Hawaiian Education Program supports more than 60 early childhood education sites statewide, as well as home-visiting services for children under 5, workforce development programs for parents and Hawaiian language immersion programs. The federally funded programs serve more than 3,000 Hawaii families.

The extension comes after months of uncertainty over the future of the federal program, which had raised concerns among Hawaii organizations that rely on the funding to provide early childhood education, family support and other services.

At the Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture, the uncertainty made it difficult to plan staffing, resources and future programming for its Keiki Steps program, CEO Sanoe Marfil said.

“It created anxiety for families who rely on Keiki Steps as a trusted source of early childhood education, parent engagement, culturally grounded learning experiences and family support,” Marfil said.

INPEACE’s Keiki Steps program served 240 children, 35 teachers and 199 families in 2025 through programming supported by the Native Hawaiian Education Program.

Marfil said losing the funding would have meant families losing access to free, culturally grounded early learning and parent education. Many families would have struggled to find comparable services because of limited availability, waitlists, transportation barriers and costs, she said.

“Few programs offer the same combination of early childhood education, parent education, and cultural connection,” Marfil said.

If NHEP funding had been cut, Marfil said many families would have lost access to essential early learning and family support services.

“Children would have missed opportunities to develop critical school-readiness skills, while parents would have lost access to educational resources, guidance, and support networks that help them become their child’s first and most important teacher,” she said. “The impact would have been especially significant for families already facing economic, geographic or educational barriers.”

The funding uncertainty also prompted the Partners in Development Foundation to reconsider how heavily it relies on federal funding.

Brittney Akai, special assistant to the CEO at PIDF, said the organization used the uncertainty as an opportunity to assess its funding sources and look for ways to become more financially sustainable.

The organization had previously received about $15 million in Native Hawaiian Education Program funding, which represented roughly 72% of its annual operating budget.

PIDF operates several programs supported by the federal funding, including Tutu and Me Traveling Preschool, Ka Paalana Homeless Family Education, Kiapu Workforce Development, Piha Me Ka Pono Community Schools and the Keiki Assets Account program.

When the future of the funding was uncertain earlier this year, PIDF began preparing for a significantly smaller footprint.

“We were thinking that this was the last year,” Akai said. “There’s no future, there’s no new grant solicitation that we were aware of.”

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PIDF turned to local philanthropic and community partners for support. The organization ultimately planned to continue some programs at 17 sites rather than the 36 sites it currently operates, Akai said.

That reduction would have affected 779 children and 1,353 caregivers, including participants in home-visiting programs and a virtual preschool class.

“We were able to continue some programs with a smaller footprint,” Akai said. “And that was really hard to announce to our staff and families.”

The organization currently has about 510 children on waitlists for its program sites statewide, according to PIDF.

During the 2025-26 school year, PIDF served 1,587 children and 2,738 caregivers through family-child interaction learning programs, including Tutu and Me Traveling Preschool and home-visiting services. Its Ka Paalana Malama Mobile outreach program, which was also at risk of being discontinued, served another 44 children and 48 caregivers.

The organization’s Kiapu Workforce Development program supported more than 237 youths in 2025, while Piha Me Ka Pono worked with eight state Department of Education schools, reaching thousands of people in school communities.

About 100 PIDF employees also would have been affected by the loss of the federal funding, the organization said.

For providers, the funding does more than pay for classroom instruction. Programs also serve as a connection point between families and other community resources, including food and diaper banks.

Akai said PIDF hopes to expand partnerships and find new ways to support families beyond traditional educational services.

“We have that trusted family, so we welcome partnerships and collaborations,” she said.

The programs also provide families with opportunities to connect with Hawaiian culture. Akai recalled one program in which children received poi to take home, giving some families an opportunity to introduce the traditional Hawaiian food to relatives who had never tried it.

That cultural connection is an important part of the programs, she said, particularly when it is incorporated into play-based learning and family activities.

The agreement to extend the federal funding follows efforts by Schatz and other Hawaii advocates to protect Native Hawaiian programs amid broader proposed federal cuts.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Schatz has pushed to preserve funding for Hawaii programs, including during negotiations over the Native Hawaiian Education Program.

For providers that had spent months preparing for potential cuts, the $29.7 million release offers another year of stability — but organizations say they are already thinking about what happens after the extension ends.

“We’re not sure what’s going to happen at the end of the year,” Akai said. “But we know that our community is behind us.”

PIDF said it plans to continue looking for ways to diversify its funding so its programs can remain available to Hawaii families regardless of what happens with future federal appropriations.

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