Families, staff worry proposed changes at Head Start will put a safety net at risk

When Rachel Conrad began fostering her 18-month-old nephew Nikolai, he was the size of a 6-month-old baby, had a bad ear infection and, as she later learned, fetal alcohol effects.

Conrad quickly enrolled him in childcare at a Head Start center. There, staff screened Nikolai for vision and hearing issues and developmental delays. Nikolai was flagged for all of the above, and Conrad wasn’t surprised. But she was at a loss for how to help him.

“It was just nice to know that I was being heard and he was being seen and there was help and support,” she said.

Head Start childcare facilities serve 746 of Lane County’s most vulnerable: families at or below the poverty line, families that receive public benefits, homeless families, foster families and families with children with disabilities.

Launched in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson, the federal childcare program is free to those who qualify and was created to break cycles of poverty. The program is known for its high standards and holistic support for families, standards reflected in the many regulations that govern it. 

In August, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced changes to Head Start’s performance standards that, if implemented, will sweep away many of those regulations. Officials say it’s an effort to reduce administrative burdens, leave decision-making to local leaders and increase available slots for children.

But local leaders and families in Lane County see it differently.

They say the proposed changes would allow child-to-teacher ratios to match varying state standards, weaken requirements for children with disabilities and take away the need for preventative screenings, physical and mental health services and multilingual instruction. 

Charleen Strauch, executive director of Head Start of Lane County, said while some administrative streamlining of Head Start is needed, the proposed changes go beyond eliminating unnecessary paperwork. And, she said, the stakes are high.

“There’s research upon research that shows the importance of really reaching kids 0-3, and more importantly, 0-5 age, in those necessary supports, like mental health, physical health, nutrition,” Strauch said. “We know what that does is actually sets them up for success as they move through the public school systems and elementary onto graduation.”

In Lane County, Head Start leaders hope to keep standards high. But tight funding could force tough decisions about staffing and enrollment limits.

Fewer standards, fewer jobs, less support

For foster parent Conrad, Head Start was a lifeboat — and the reason Nikolai is now a thriving sophomore at Thurston High School. But many of the professionals who helped Nikolai get the care he needed would not be required if the proposed rules went into effect.

Workers who perform screenings for developmental delays as well as vision and hearing problems would not be required under the pared-down proposed rules. Others who provide mental health support and dental cleanings would also not be required.

While federal officials argue that reducing standards would give local sites more flexibility and choice, it would also put childcare centers in a bind.

The federal government has allocated the same amount of money per child for Head Start facilities for the past three years and offered minuscule cost-of-living increases for staff.

As inflation and employment costs rise, Head Starts will have to make hard decisions if funding remains flat, Strauch said. The proposed rule changes would give them permission to cut positions that the federal government deems nonessential. But Head Start programs that decide those positions are essential will have to figure out ways to pay for them.

“You have people in positions that are mental health consultants, or they’re family service support people, or they are nurses or our dental people,” Strauch said.
“So what they’re saying is, if we’re not requiring those, where people can save money is by not doing them. So, in essence, it’s firing those people, letting go of those people, in order for us to serve more children.”

According to projections in an analysis from the coalition Together for Head Start, it could mean a loss of 438 jobs in Oregon and nearly 40,000 jobs nationwide. Head Start of Lane County currently employs 286 staff members.

Strauch said it’s too soon to say what Head Start of Lane County will do if the rule changes go into effect. She hopes to find grant funding from other sources, but said if funding cannot be found, staffing and slots for children might have to be reduced to retain supportive services, keep child-to-staff ratios at their current levels and pay staff a livable wage.

In a statement to Lookout Eugene-Springfield from the Administration for Children and Families, the federal agency that oversees Head Start, officials said the rule changes are meant to create more flexibility for Head Starts across the country.

“Any Head Start program that likes its current performance standards is welcome to maintain those same standards,” the statement read. “Programs may choose to adjust ratios to serve more children, or they may keep their current thresholds.”

Lowering inclusivity standards

For another Springfield mom, Anna Kohl, Head Start is where her daughter with Down syndrome can go to preschool and be fully included.

Addy, now 4, was born only 15 months after her brother Liam, and Kohl wanted them to go to the same preschool. Private preschools, however, told her they didn’t take children with Down syndrome because of the high cost of caring for them.

Kohl and her husband learned Addy was eligible for Head Start through her disability, and Liam also was eligible through his severe food allergies. For Addy, “preschool really wouldn’t have been possible” without Head Start, Kohl said.

If the proposed rule changes are put into place, Head Start centers will still have to follow federal disability law, but will not have to follow the current rules that have more detailed imperatives.

Kohl, who advocates for disability rights on TikTok, said the removal of current disability standards would mean kids like Addy would not need to have accommodations to fully participate, which means a child may not be included at mealtime due to a feeding tube, or they may be pulled out of class for various therapies instead of the therapists coming into their classrooms.

Kohl also worries that if class sizes grow, teachers won’t be able to serve kids with disabilities well.

Besides advocating for her own children, Kohl also worries about other children who need extra support. Head Start staff are currently trained to look for signs of abuse. That training would not be required under the proposed changes, unless required by state law. Oregon requires licensed childcare workers to take a course in abuse recognition once.

Children who speak another language at home will now be required to only learn in English at Head Start, a change from a requirement to retain use of home languages at school. Head Starts will also not be required to communicate with parents in other languages than English.

“The ripple effects are going to be horrible,” Kohl said.

Advocating for children beyond Oregon

Oregon’s childcare center standards for teacher-child ratios are close to Head Starts with slightly higher ratios for 2- and 3-year-olds. 

For example, Oregon standards require an adult-to-child ratio of 1-to-4 for newborns until children turn 2, with a cap of eight children in a classroom. The ratio inches up to 1-to-5 for 2-year-olds and 1-to-10 for 3-year-olds and above in Oregon. Head Start has a 1-to-4 adult-child ratio and eight child-per-classroom cap until children turn 3, when it turns to a 1-to-8.5 ratio. The rules governing these ratios are much less restrictive in other states, however.

“We’re not only fighting for our own program, but we’re fighting for Head Starts across the nation as well,” Strauch said.

If the rule changes go into place, there will be legal wrinkles to iron out. The Head Start Act, a law passed and amended by Congress, includes measures that would clash with some of the rule changes, including a measure that ensures accommodations for children whose English is limited and the requirement that Head Start centers effectively communicate with parents with limited English in their language “to the extent practicable.” The contradiction could prompt litigation.

“I think this is going to be a little bit of a longer haul than people realize,” Strauch said.

Nikolai’s adoptive mom, Rachel Conrad, now is a Head Start teacher. Sherry Beach, a head teacher and union president for Head Start of Lane County employees, said about 30% to 40% of their staff are former Head Start attendees or parents who were inspired to serve others with similar life experiences.

“I don’t care what side of the political scheme you are on things — life’s hard right now,” Conrad said. “As an adult, you struggle, but then you have these tiny little humans that see and feel everything, and they need to be able to have a place to process that and get the tools that they need.”

Want to comment?

The Children and Families Administration will take public comments on the proposed Head Start rule changes through Oct. 6 on the Federal Register webpage.