The National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) strongly believes that any changes to the Head Start Program must make this essential program more accessible to families who want home-based family child care for their young children NAFCC is reviewing the Administration’s proposed rule to significantly reduce the Head Start Program Performance Standards. While we recognize opportunities to streamline administrative requirements and expand access, any changes must protect children and families, sustain the early childhood workforce, and uphold high-quality, comprehensive early childhood education.
NAFCC urges the Administration to preserve the core Head Start Program Performance Standards while collaborating with federal, state, and local leaders and educators to streamline regulations where appropriate, ensure adequate investment to meaningfully and equitably include family child care, and maintain Head Start’s longstanding commitment to quality. Unfortunately, this proposed rule would fundamentally change the Head Start model by eliminating many of the components that have distinguished Head Start from child care licensing alone and made Head Start the nation’s gold standard for comprehensive early childhood education for children, families, child care providers and communities.
These changes have particular implications for family child care. Many infants, toddlers, and preschoolers receive Head Start services in family child care homes through Early Head Start–Child Care Partnerships and other home-based models. Nearly 10% of NAFCC members report being a Head Start partner. The Performance Standards provide the framework that supports these partnerships by ensuring family child care educators have access to coaching, professional development, comprehensive family supports, and shared quality expectations that go beyond minimum licensing requirements. Weakening that framework risks diminishing the consistency of services families in Head Start rely on. Furthermore, these changes should not lay the groundwork for reducing federal investments for Head Start that support the broader child care system.
The proposed rule would replace the federal standards with state licensing requirements in areas such as program operations, educator qualifications, group size and ratios, transportation, governance, education, family services, and management systems. While there is an important opportunity for better alignment with state licensing requirements, licensing standards were not designed to replace Head Start’s comprehensive approach to school readiness, family engagement, developmental supports, and continuous quality improvement. Furthermore, replacing consistent national standards with a patchwork of state requirements risks creating inequitable experiences for children and families depending on where they live.
NAFCC agrees that regulatory requirements and paperwork should be streamlined and that educators should have flexibility in how they meet program expectations. However, the Head Start Performance Standards establish a national framework for comprehensive services that support children’s learning, health, development, and family well-being while ensuring consistent expectations across all program settings, including family child care. Head Start was created to provide children and families facing significant economic and structural barriers with more than access to high-quality early care and education—it offers a comprehensive, evidence-based approach that promotes school readiness, strengthens family well-being, and helps break cycles of intergenerational poverty. Expanding access and maintaining quality are not competing priorities, instead they are both essential to fulfilling Head Start’s mission.
NAFCC urges the Administration to preserve the core Head Start Program Performance Standards while collaborating with state and local leaders to streamline regulations where appropriate, ensure adequate investment to meaningfully and equitably include family child care, and maintain Head Start’s longstanding commitment to quality. We also encourage family child care educators, Head Start grantees, families, and advocates to submit comments during the 60-day public comment period and ensure that the voices of home-based educators are heard. Resources to support your advocacy efforts can be found here.
