Georgia loses chance to become a foster mom after CDC job loss

Bree Danner was in her Atlanta office at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February when the call came.

After years preparing to become a foster mom, a caseworker was asking if she could house a child in need, perhaps for the long haul.

She was excited. But then, uneasy. Three weeks in, the Trump administration was already eliminating federal government jobs. She wondered about her own.

Danner had been building toward foster parenting, part of what she sees as a life of service. At the CDC, she worked with community organizations across the country who won grants to fight substance abuse.

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“Public service has been my life,” she said. “We all go into this because we want to serve. Not because we want to make money.”

Less than an hour after she hung up with the caseworker, Danner and her team learned that the Trump administration planned to fire thousands of probationary workers as part of sweeping layoffs across the federal government. Danner had worked for the CDC for several years but she had recently changed departments, which meant she was on “probationary” status — and out of a job.

“My career in public service has completely been destroyed for absolutely no reason,” she said.

Danner knows she’s employable. But the job hunt will be a challenge because of the sudden firing of thousands of health workers at once, amid federal funding cuts to outside organizations that normally might hire them.

Danner doesn’t have a big savings account. She is single. So, she called the caseworker back and said she couldn’t move the child into her own unstable situation.

“It was devastating to me,” said Danner, who has not yet found other employment but is active in the group of fired employees suing the President Donald Trump’s administration.

“I had a lot of guilt at not being able to take in that little girl.”

One bright spot for her: Because multiple court fights are still ongoing, the Trump administration has continued to pay Danner and her colleagues while they job hunt.

“I would rather be doing my CDC job,” she said. “I would much rather.”