Harrisburg, PA (September 29, 2026) – Early Learning PA (ELPA) is calling on Pennsylvanians to speak out against proposed federal changes to Head Start that could weaken longstanding standards for quality, health, safety, and staffing for children and families across the Commonwealth. As a coalition of policy and advocacy organizations and experts in the science of child health and early childhood development from across Pennsylvania, we oppose the proposed changes to the Head Start Program Performance Standards, which would roll back critical protections for children and families.
The proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would significantly rewrite Head Start Program Performance Standards governing class size, staffing, health and mental health services, workforce qualifications, transportation, and other critical components of Head Start and Early Head Start.
The proposed rule is open for public comment through October 6, 2026. ELPA is urging families, educators, Head Start providers, health and early intervention professionals, and community leaders to submit comments about how the proposed changes could affect Pennsylvania children and families.
Head Start and Early Head Start provide early learning alongside health, developmental, nutrition, and family supports to children and families in communities across Pennsylvania. ELPA believes every Pennsylvania family deserves an early childhood system in which children can thrive from the start through quality care, health, and learning — one that strengthens families and values the professionals who nurture and teach young children.
Structural racism and a history of underinvestment in Black and Brown communities have created inequitable access to these opportunities. ELPA is concerned that weakening consistent federal Head Start standards could deepen those inequities and roll back progress toward ensuring all children have access to the supports they need to thrive. In addition, in some rural communities Head Start is the only child care option, which could leave those families without anywhere to turn to support their ability to go to work.
For more than 60 years, Head Start has been changing children’s lives for the better — providing early learning, health, nutrition, and family supports that help children enter school ready to succeed and help parents work, learn, and build stable futures. In Pennsylvania, Head Start is a critical part of our early care and education system. Recognizing its importance, the Commonwealth has invested dedicated state funding through the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program since 2004 to reach more children and families than federal funding alone allows. Weakening federal standards would undermine both the federal investment and Pennsylvania’s long-standing bipartisan commitment to expanding access to high-quality Head Start services.
HHS describes the proposed changes as a way to give Head Start programs greater flexibility and expand access. However, its own analysis shows that the projected savings would come, in part, from changes to staffing, workforce, health and safety, and other program requirements. ELPA believes expanding access should not come at the expense of the quality and comprehensive supports that have long defined Head Start.
The proposed rule would:
- Increase class sizes and reduce a teacher’s ability to provide individualized care and education by allowing 33% more children per teacher.
- Reduce the number of teachers, home visitors, and support staff, creating a more stressful and less effective environment for learning.
- Weaken health, mental health, and dental care services by rolling back critical screening and service requirements.
- Create new barriers to enrollment for children experiencing homelessness by requiring documentation that is difficult or impossible for some families to obtain, a change that HHS itself estimates will remove 8% of currently enrolled children.
- Endanger children’s safety on buses by lessening requirements for monitors and safety protections.
- Jeopardize services for children with disabilities by weakening requirements for developmental screenings, early intervention referrals, and the specialized supports that help children with disabilities access and succeed in Head Start programs.
- Remove protections against suspension and expulsion, eliminating rules that sharply limit suspensions and prohibit expelling children. Without these protections, children who need support most, including those with disabilities and children experiencing trauma, could be pushed out of Head Start entirely.
“In Pennsylvania, Head Start and Early Head Start serve more than 30,000 children in every single one of our 67 counties. These programs are the backbone of early learning in communities across the Commonwealth, from our largest cities to our most rural towns,” said Kara McFalls, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Head Start Association, a principal partner of Early Learning PA. “This proposal doesn’t just change federal regulations; it could fundamentally change what families can expect from Head Start. Smaller group sizes, qualified educators, comprehensive services, and strong health and safety standards have helped define Head Start for generations. We should strengthen these foundations while expanding access, not ask families to choose between access and quality.”
The proposal also comes as Pennsylvania continues to face significant challenges recruiting and retaining early childhood educators. Reducing federal workforce standards while providing programs greater latitude over staffing could further complicate efforts to build a stable, skilled, and well-compensated early childhood workforce.
“We should absolutely be looking for ways to reach more children and families, but access and quality must go hand in hand,” said Kristen Rotz, President of United Way of Pennsylvania, a principal partner of Early Learning PA. “We cannot meaningfully expand opportunity by placing more young children with fewer educators, reducing comprehensive services, or creating new barriers for families trying to enroll. Head Start has long recognized that children’s learning, health, family stability, and economic security are interconnected. Those are strengths to build upon.”
For families already struggling to afford basic necessities, Head Start is also an important part of the infrastructure that allows parents to work while their children receive early learning and comprehensive supports. Weakening that infrastructure can have consequences far beyond the classroom.
Pennsylvanians have until October 6, 2026, to make their voices heard. ELPA encourages families, educators, Head Start providers, health and early intervention professionals, community leaders, and others who care about Pennsylvania’s youngest children to review the proposed rule and submit public comments opposing the rule and describing how these changes could negatively affect children, families, educators, and communities.
Early Learning PA believes the path forward should expand the number of children who can benefit from Head Start while preserving the quality, safety, comprehensive services, and skilled workforce that have made the program a critical resource for children and families for more than 60 years.
Early Learning PA Principal Partners
- Allies for Children
- Allegheny Prenatal to Three
- Casa San José
- Children First
- Early Intervention Providers Association
- First Up
- Genesis of Pittsburgh
- Healthy Start, Inc. (Pittsburgh)
- Education Law Center – PA
- Maternal and Family Health Services
- Maternity Care Coalition
- Outreach – Center for Community Resources
- PA Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics
- PA Coalition for Oral Health
- Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children
- Pennsylvania Child Care Association
- Pennsylvania Head Start Association
- Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children
- Rehabilitation & Community Providers Association
- The Arc of Chester County
- The Arc of Pennsylvania
- The Pennsylvania Parents as Teachers State Office at the Center for Schools and Communities
- Trying Together
- United Way of Pennsylvania
- United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania
About Pre-K for PA
Pre-K for PA launched in 2014 with the vision that every 3- and 4-year-old in Pennsylvania will have access to high-quality pre-k. Learn more at www.prekforpa.org.
About Start Strong PA
Start Strong PA, launched in 2019, supports healthy child development, working families, and the economy by increasing access to and affordability of high-quality child care programs for young children. Learn more at www.startstrongpa.org.
About Thriving PA
Thriving PA is a perinatal and child health campaign launched in 2021 that works to ensure each birthing person, infant, and toddler in Pennsylvania has access to affordable, quality health care. Learn more at www.thrivingpa.org.
About Childhood Begins At Home
Childhood Begins At Home is a statewide campaign launched in 2017 to help policymakers and the public understand the value of evidence-based home visiting and support public investments in the programs. Learn more at www.childhoodbeginsathome.org.
About Early Learning PA (ELPA) – ELPA is a broad-based coalition that advocates for access to voluntary, high-quality early care and education and healthy development opportunities for all Pennsylvania children. ELPA’s public policy agenda focuses on five key components: pre-kindergarten, child care, home visitation, perinatal and child health, and early intervention.