Save the Children Urges HHS to Preserve the Core Promise of Head Start While Modernizing Program Standards

WASHINGTON (Oct. 7, 2026) — Save the Children has submitted detailed comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on proposed changes to Head Start, urging the agency to preserve the national quality standards, comprehensive services and program supports that have helped millions of children thrive for more than six decades.

Save the Children supports thoughtful efforts to reduce unnecessary paperwork, streamline administrative requirements and provide Head Start providers with greater flexibility to meet local needs. However, the organization – which operates Head Start and Early Head Start programming in rural areas across Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Indiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee – cautioned that some proposed changes could weaken critical components of the Head Start model that children, families and communities rely on every day.

In a comment letter submitted to HHS on October 6, Save the Children expressed particular concern about the proposal's elimination of Head Start's national staff-to-child ratios and class-size requirements, which currently provide a consistent baseline across states. According to Save the Children's analysis, replacing those standards with state requirements could allow substantially larger classroom sizes in some states.

"Every child deserves the high-quality Head Start experience that families have come to expect," said Arvelis Byrd, Executive Director of Head Start at Save the Children. "Head Start programs already have the flexibility to respond to the unique needs of their children, families and communities. We should be careful not to reduce the strong standards that protect quality, safety and school readiness. Our focus should be on strengthening what works for children and families, not lowering expectations."

Save the Children is urging HHS to retain a meaningful national baseline for workforce qualifications, ongoing professional development, supervision, group sizes and staff-to-child ratios, while providing targeted flexibility where programs can demonstrate that alternative approaches will maintain or improve quality and child safety.

Head Start has served as a critical lifeline for hardworking families across America for more than 60 years, helping nearly 40 million children during the most important years of their development. The program is the only source of childcare, early education, health services and nutritious meals for many low-income families, particularly in rural communities.

"For decades, Head Start has recognized that children do not experience education, health, nutrition, mental health and family well-being in isolation," Byrd said. "A child who is hungry cannot fully engage in learning. An untreated vision or hearing problem can appear to be a learning problem. A developmental delay identified early can change the trajectory of a child's education. Head Start brings those supports together, helping children enter school healthy, supported and ready to learn, while also connecting parents and caregivers to training, education and other resources that help families succeed. The proposed reforms risk weakening that promise by taking away national standards that have long enabled these comprehensive services for participating children and families."

Children who participate in Head Start are more likely to graduate from high school, attend college and earn higher incomes later in life, while being less likely to experience poverty or rely on public assistance. Head Start also serves as an economic engine in communities across the country, supporting approximately 250,000 staff through more than 1,600 local agencies and helping tens of thousands of hardworking parents pursue education, training and employment opportunities.

Save the Children is encouraging HHS to preserve key elements that have underpinned Head Start's success across communities nationwide, including:

• A qualified and supported workforce, including appropriate staff-to-child ratios and group sizes.
• Head Start’s comprehensive model that includes health, nutrition, developmental and family supports.
• Sufficient program infrastructure and administrative capacity, including monitoring, accountability and continuous quality improvement.
• Strong national protections against exclusionary discipline such as suspension and expulsion, and respect for the diversity and circumstances of the families head Start serves