Hollowing Out Head Start From Within

The Trump administration has repeatedly targeted Head Start for elimination, and repeatedly come up short. A New America analysis traces how the strategy has shifted from elimination to regulation. A forthcoming rule, expected this summer, would allow individual state licensing standards to take precedence over the federal Head Start Program Performance Standards.

That distinction matters more than it might appear. The federal standards set uniform requirements for child-to-staff ratios, staff qualifications, health screenings, and comprehensive services including home visiting, nutrition, and family support. State child care licensing standards vary widely and are often considerably weaker. Many states permit higher child-to-staff ratios than Head Start allows. Most state licensing frameworks do not require vision, hearing, or dental screenings, or mental health consultation, within any set timeframe after enrollment. Comprehensive services are largely absent from state licensing altogether.

Head Start serves more than 700,000 children and pregnant women each year, many of whom have no other regular contact with health care. For those families, the federal quality standards of Head Start are life saving.

Organizations should watch for the proposed rule and prepare to document what federal standards deliver locally. Advocates should expect to counter renewed claims that Head Start lacks academic value, and be ready to back their arguments with research on long-term outcomes.