Sponsors (12)
The bill expands supervised, safer paid work-study opportunities in Head Start settings and clarifies placement rules, but it does so with stricter assurances and staffing limits that raise compliance costs and reduce how much work-study students can be used to fill staffing needs.
Students and enrolled work-study participants — gain paid early-childhood experience at Head Start/Early Head Start sites, improving college affordability and building relevant early-career skills.
Children and Head Start programs — receive additional staffing support from work-study students, which can increase adult supervision and program capacity without changing required staff-to-child ratios.
Children and families — benefit from required background checks and personnel standard compliance for work-study students, strengthening child safety and vetting of student workers.
Students and Head Start programs — work-study students cannot be left alone with children and do not count toward staff ratios, limiting their usefulness to fill staffing shortages and potentially reducing paid hours/opportunities for students.
Schools, Head Start providers, and taxpayers — will incur increased administrative and compliance costs (e.g., verifying statutory assurances, running background checks) to place or host work-study students.
Students and community programs — removing 'literacy training' from permissible activities may narrow placement options and reduce opportunities that previously relied on that activity category.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Conditions Federal work-study placements in Head Start/Early Head Start with required background checks, personnel-policy compliance, supervision limits, and an assurance in employment agreements.
Introduced June 25, 2025 by Kirsten Gillibrand · Last progress June 25, 2025
Amends Federal work-study rules and the Head Start Act to set conditions for placing work-study students in Head Start and Early Head Start programs. It removes a reference to "literacy training" from the Federal work-study placement list and requires written assurances that any Head Start program employing work-study students will follow specified Head Start rules. Adds specific protections and limits for work-study students placed in Early Head Start and Head Start: programs must complete required background checks, the students must follow program personnel policies, students must be paid as additional staff, may not be left alone with children, and may not be counted in required staff-to-child ratios.