365 State Legislators from all 50 States Urge HHS to Rescind Head Start Rule

Lawmakers warn the largest-ever overhaul of Head Start standards would harm children and families and shift costs onto state budgets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: eme@stateinnovation.org 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — At least 365 state legislators representing all 50 states yesterday called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to rescind its proposed rewrite of the Head Start Program Performance Standards, warning the changes would weaken program quality, destabilize programs, and shift costs to families and states. 

In a comment letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., organized by State Innovation Exchange (SiX), the National Women’s Law Center, and Child Care for Every Family Network, the lawmakers urged HHS to preserve the quality standards and essential services relied upon by more than 700,000 young children and their families each year.

The signers include state legislators who are Head Start graduates, Head Start parents, and former early childhood educators. 

“We have seen, and many of us experienced first hand, how Head Start can transform a young child’s life, with benefits that extend far beyond the classroom,” state policymakers wrote in their comment to HHS. “Undermining what makes Head Start so successful will rob over 700,000 of our youngest children every year of critical opportunities that can help shape the course of their lives and, ultimately, the future of our country.”

The proposed rule would be the largest overhaul of Head Start Program Performance Standards in the program's 60-year history. It would eliminate nearly all of the evidence-based requirements that have defined the program, and among other harmful changes would thereby:

• Weaken child safety and program quality. The proposal would remove teacher-child ratio and class size requirements, standards on suspensions and expulsions, and requirements for vision, hearing, and developmental screenings. It also reduces protections for children with disabilities and multilingual learners, along with services for pregnant women and their infants.
• Put small and rural programs at risk. HHS wants to cap administrative spending at 5 percent, down from the current 15 percent ceiling. By HHS's own count, only 3.7 percent of programs meet that mark today. Small and rural programs, often the only child care in their communities, face the greatest risk of closure.
• Shift costs onto families and states. Shorter program hours and fewer covered essentials during program hours, including diapers and formula, would require more families to seek state child care assistance and enrollment state pre-K, if those options are even available. School districts could face higher costs as more children arrive without the critical support they need.
• Drive educators out of Head Start. The proposal would eliminate requirements for staff breaks, mental health supports, and research-based coaching. HHS estimates the changes could result in the loss of 40,000 Head Start jobs nationwide and $167 million in cuts to health services.

The legislators also object to HHS’s failure to consult Head Start families, program leaders, state and local governments, or early childhood experts in developing the proposal.

The letter urges HHS to withdraw the proposal immediately and in its entirety, and to instead pursue policies consistent with the Head Start statute that strengthen the program for children, families, and their communities.

Read the full letter and list of signers here.

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State Innovation Exchange (SiX) empowers, emboldens and equips state legislators to build and wield progressive governing power by/with/for the people they represent. SiX does this by providing legislators with the tools needed to shape impactful public policy and building their capacity to lead with their constituents. SiX fosters long-term collaboration between legislators – across chambers, across regions, and across state lines – and with grassroots movements.

The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice — in the courts, in public policy, and in our society—working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. We use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us—especially women of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and women and families with low incomes. For more than 50 years, we have been on the leading edge of every major legal and policy victory for women.

The Child Care for Every Family Network is the national movement and campaign to transform child care, representing 2,000+ child care providers, impacted families, state and national organizations, and organizers across the country.