- Completely, Kids faced a $350,000 federal funding freeze, risking reduced care and programming for 3,000 students in Omaha.
- Nebraska lawmakers intervened to release the funds, highlighting their importance for after-school programs.
- Despite securing current funding, concerns about future financial stability remain for Completely Kids and its support for working-class families
Completely Kids, which serves about 3,000 students across 16 locations in the Omaha metro area, had $350,000 of their federal funding temporarily frozen before intervention from Nebraska lawmakers.
Watch Hannah's story:
"Fewer funds mean fewer kids served. It would mean reducing the amount of hours that we're able to provide our care due to staffing. It also may even look at having to not providing programming at certain locations," said Lacy Locklear, Chief Development Officer at Completely Kids.
The organization provides free after-school care for working-class families, allowing parents to focus on other essential needs.
"Which allows our parents to focus on other things. They're able to focus on paying rent, making sure that food is in the house, making sure their bills are met, you know, medical needs that are needing to be met," Locklear said.
Representative Don Bacon and Senator Deb Fischer helped secure the release of the frozen 21st Century Community Learning Center funds.
"They should not have been frozen in the first place. These funds were already budgeted for and would have made a negative impact on the budgets of afterschool care programs and schools," Bacon said in a statement.
The funding uncertainty comes as Nebraska faces broader budget challenges. At Thursday's Tax Rate Review Committee meeting, it was projected that the state's budget deficit would be around $95 million.
Republican Senator Merv Riepe of Legislative District 12 expressed concern about increasing financial pressure on the state.
"In any event, we must create and operate within a constitutionally required balanced budget in Nebraska. So we have to make a number of decisions between wants and needs—we will be required to redefine 'essential.' That said, we have all faced personal challenges and prevailed—we will do the same as Nebraskans and as Americans," Riepe said.
And Democrat Sen. John Cavanaugh called out the legality of similar funding freezes.
"The Trump administration's unconstitutional withholding of funds already appropriated for after-school programs hurts kids. Cuts to SNAP hurt families, businesses, and blow a hole in the state's budget. We need a leader in Washington who will stand up to President Trump's erratic behavior."
While Completely Kids has secured funding for this school year, Locklear cautions that 2026 could present new challenges as the money they received this year may not be available next year.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
