LANSING, Mich. — The Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC), Michigan Community Action (MCA), and the Michigan Head Start Association (MHSA) are jointly raising urgent concerns about a new federal proposal that would roll back the Head Start Program Performance Standards, which are the framework that has guided the program’s comprehensive model of care for over 60 years.
The proposed rule would rescind more than 1,400 regulatory provisions and eliminate the current Performance Standards outright, replacing them with a far thinner federal framework. Early review shows the proposal would, among other things, change national staffing ratio standards and group-size limits to a multitude of state-level child care requirements, and eliminate most requirements for developmental, mental health, health, and dental screenings and supports. It also weakens services for children with disabilities, restricts services for multilingual children and families, and makes parent governance and oversight committees optional rather than required at every center.
“Head Start is a comprehensive model built on six decades of evidence, and this proposal takes a chainsaw to the standards that make that model work, and replaces those best practices and comprehensive standards with much more basic state licensing health and safety requirements” said Alicia Guevara, CEO of the Early Childhood Investment Corporation. “Framing this as ‘reducing burden and expanding access’ should be interrogated closely. What’s actually being done is harmful and a shameful gutting of critical services for the youngest and most vulnerable children in our state.”
“Community action agencies across Michigan run Head Start programs because they know comprehensive support is what actually moves a family out of poverty, not just a seat in a classroom,” said Brian McGrain, executive director of Michigan Community Action. “Stripping away the standards that require whole-family services doesn’t reduce burden. It shifts that burden right back onto the families who have the least capacity to absorb it.”
“My Head Start story began as a parent, and today, as Executive Director of the Michigan Head Start Association, I have had the privilege of traveling across Michigan and seeing Head Start in action,” said Chanda Hillman, executive director of the Michigan Head Start Association. “The NRPM suggests programs need greater flexibility, but that flexibility already exists. Every program I visit is different because every community is different. What they share are strong, research-based standards that ensure children and families receive high-quality, comprehensive support. Some of the proposed changes also raise questions about how they align with the Head Start Act, including reducing parent involvement requirements while at the same time claiming to return more control to parents. We should be strengthening what works, not dismantling the foundation of a program that has served children and families for more than 60 years.”
In Michigan alone, Head Start and Early Head Start reach families who depend on the program’s full scope of services; not just early learning, but health screenings, disability supports, and family stability services no classroom-only model provides. Last year, Michigan Head Start programs served 4,896 children with IDEA services, reached 932 children in foster care and 1,855 children experiencing homelessness, and supported more than 17,463 families with a parent employed, in school, or in job training. The program also employs 2,397 Michigan teachers, family child care providers, and home visitors.
ECIC, MCA, and MHSA are still reviewing the full 200-page proposal alongside partners across Michigan’s early childhood network, and will share a fuller analysis and recommended actions for advocates in the coming week. In the meantime, Michigan families, providers, and advocates are encouraged to contact their federal lawmakers now, before the rule is finalized.