When President Donald Trump dispatched U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to Los Angeles, the usually jovial, warm atmosphere at the Child Development Institute (CDI) shifted.

The nonprofit, marking nearly 30 years of providing direct support and services to thousands of children and families in the San Fernando Valley and beyond, saw many of its immigrant families too scared to even walk through the center’s doors. “We had a call a couple of weeks ago from a mom who said that her 2-year-old is too afraid to leave the house now because they spent so much time at home, (and) now he’s getting social anxiety,” says Tessa Graham, CDI’s chief executive.

The increasing fear of ICE raids has spread throughout the county, affecting not only the daily lives of the 25,000 families CDI assists each year but also how CDI operates. The institute has a long history of supporting families beyond its primary goal of helping address developmental concerns in children. The nonprofit has served as a key resource, connecting families to services addressing food insecurity, housing issues, and other community resources, such as diaper distribution and legal aid.

In the face of detentions, families whose loved ones had been detained were now calling to seek legal resources, Graham said. CDI staff were even trained on how to handle confrontations with ICE agents, and the center strengthened its community resources in response to children not visiting the center or even going to school out of their parents’ fear of detainment and deportation.

“When you’re a nonprofit leader, it’s like, now what?” Graham says, adding that, given the challenges, they had no option but to figure out their next steps. “You still have kids showing up here every day in need.”

Financial headwinds

The anxiety among its constituents hits at a challenging time, as CDI is also navigating some financial headwinds. Fundraising has been difficult since the Covid-19 pandemic and now the January wildfires. To make matters worse, the organization might also be impacted by possible changes to Medicaid funding – something that is especially worrying given the community CDI serves.

“Funding has been cut for so many organizations (as a whole), especially government funding, (and) there’s increased competition for private donations,” Graham says.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington D.C.-based nonpartisan research and policy institute, reported in its analysis that the proposed government budget cuts would eliminate Medicaid coverage or increase costs for people with disabilities. This includes many children served by nonprofit clinics and therapists. The outcome could be lost reimbursements, longer waitlists, and fewer available services.

“We don’t know whether or not funding will be lost for children with special needs,” she says. “Those are the kinds of things we’re paying attention to and what I’m concerned about as a nonprofit organization.” 

For Graham, CDI’s mission still endures in its consistent efforts to provide therapeutic and early intervention services, including speech support. They have free early learning centers and offer screenings for neurodevelopmental disorders like autism; and they conduct professional training for organizations, parents and caregivers.

“We are small but mighty in what we provide,” she says, adding that the organization trained more more than 3,500 professionals, parents and caregivers last year. “In times of distress and greater need, like what we’re seeing now, we as an organization have to expand our bandwidth of what resources and referrals and relationships we make.”