Sponsors (37)
The bill preserves and strengthens Head Start's nationwide and specialized regional structures to maintain access and continuity of services for low‑income, tribal, and migrant children, but it locks in staffing and structural rules that limit HHS flexibility and may create unfunded mandates and administrative strain for providers.
Low-income children gain access to comprehensive early learning (language, literacy, math, social-emotional, and physical development) through continued Head Start programming.
Head Start programs retain the pre‑Jan 20, 2025 regional structure and staffing, preserving continuity of services and program presence across congressional districts.
Eligible families can receive health, nutrition, and social services based on assessed needs, which can improve child and family well‑being.
The bill prohibits HHS from reorganizing or reducing Head Start staffing and requires restoring prior staffing/structure, limiting HHS administrative flexibility and potentially entrenching past practices even when change might be needed.
Mandating FTE/staffing levels and program commitments 'not less than' pre‑Jan 20, 2025 without providing new funding could strain HHS budgets and local providers, forcing trade-offs or diverting funds from other priorities.
Affirming comprehensive service expectations and requiring family needs assessments increases administrative requirements for providers, raising operational burden and costs for local programs.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Office of Head Start to restore and maintain its pre‑Jan‑20‑2025 organizational structure, regional offices, functions, and staffing levels and limits HHS changes without advance public and congressional notice.
Introduced October 17, 2025 by Teresa Leger Fernandez · Last progress October 17, 2025
Requires the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to operate an Office of Head Start with the same offices, jobs, and duties that existed immediately before January 20, 2025, and to keep full‑time equivalent (FTE) staffing at no less than those prior levels. Creates a central office plus 12 regional offices (including two central-office regions for American Indian/Alaska Native and Migrant & Seasonal Head Start), preserves the Office’s pre‑Jan‑20‑2025 functions (policy, budget planning, administration, oversight, grant management, training/technical assistance, and State collaboration), and restricts the HHS Secretary from changing that structure, staffing, or responsibilities without advance public and congressional notice. The measure does not appropriate new funds; it ties maintenance of structure and staffing to available funding and requires the Secretary to transmit and publicly release any proposed plan to alter the Office at least 60 days before sending the plan to the President.