Head Start for Our Future Act

This bill lets college students with Federal Work-Study get paid to work in child care and early learning settings, like Head Start and Early Head Start. It adds clear safety rules: students must follow the program’s staff policies, cannot be left alone with children, and do not count toward required staff-to-child ratios. Programs also have to meet certain requirements before hiring a work-study student for these roles. The goal is to bring extra help into early childhood classrooms without replacing regular staff.

It does this by adding child development and early learning to the list of community service jobs allowed under work-study and by setting rules for using work-study students in Head Start and Early Head Start programs.

• Who is affected | What changes | When
• College students with work-study; Head Start and Early Head Start programs; children and families | Work-study can be used in early learning settings; students are extra paid helpers, can’t be left alone with kids, and don’t count toward staffing ratios; programs must meet set requirements before employing them | Not specified in the text provided