A sweeping review inside the Administration for Children and Families
The Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has eliminated nearly 36,000 pages of old regulatory guidance after a broad internal review.
According to officials, the agency rescinded 35,781 pages of sub regulatory documents that had built up over decades. Some of the material dated back to 1976. The review found that about 74 percent of the agency’s guidance footprint was outdated or no longer needed.
ACF oversees programs focused on children and families. These include Head Start, foster care, adoption services, child support enforcement and services for unaccompanied minors. Over time, technical bulletins, action notices, program instructions and “dear colleague” letters stacked up without being formally cleared.
What was removed and what remains
Officials stressed that the documents were not deleted. Instead, they were archived online. The agency also posted a detailed list of active guidance on the HHS website so grantees can clearly see what rules still apply.
The rescinded materials included items such as a 1999 memo about filing a Child and Family Services Plan report, 2005 guidance on avian flu and a 2010 staffing notice for a division that no longer exists. Many documents related to expired funding cycles, duplicate statutes or programs that have since ended.
ACF directed its Office of Legislation and Budget to create a full inventory of guidance still in effect. That process alone took three weeks. The final count showed more than 4,000 active documents totaling roughly 55,776 pages. Each program office had to explain in writing why its guidance should stay or go.
Part of a broader deregulation push
Assistant Secretary Alex J. Adams said the move supports President Donald Trump’s regulatory reform agenda. He described the outdated material as “regulatory dark matter” that had quietly accumulated for years.
The agency says the cleanup will reduce confusion for states and grant recipients. As a result, organizations can focus more on serving children and families instead of sorting through decades of guidance.
This effort lines up with the administration’s wider push to shrink the federal rulebook. For example, the Federal Communications Commission recently rolled back outdated policies, including rules tied to telegraphs, rabbit ear television antennas and old phone booth requirements.
Why it matters
Supporters argue that clearing outdated guidance makes federal programs easier to navigate. They say fewer conflicting documents mean clearer expectations and better compliance. Critics, however, often question whether large scale deregulation could remove helpful guardrails.
In this case, ACF maintains that core rules remain intact. The agency says it simply removed material that no longer reflects current law or policy.
Officials also signal that more reviews may follow. This first round focused on cleaning up guidance that stretched back nearly five decades. Future efforts could target other areas within HHS.
For now, the agency frames the action as a housekeeping step meant to streamline operations and clarify expectations for partners nationwide.
