(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont, Attorney General William Tong, and Connecticut Office of Early Childhood Commissioner Elena Trueworthy are urging the Trump administration to withdraw its proposed rule to strip the federal Head Start program of the majority of its performance standards, saying that the overhaul will negatively impact children and families who rely on the early childhood education program.
Attorney General Tong and Commissioner Trueworthy today are submitting written responses to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on behalf of Connecticut in strong opposition to the proposed rule. Both letters are calling on the federal agency to withdraw the proposed rule in its entirety and instead pursue targeted approaches to reduce unnecessary administrative burden while maintaining strong federal standards for quality, comprehensive, inclusive services, family engagement, parent leadership and workforce quality.
“Connecticut is making historic investments to expand access to early childhood education because every child deserves a chance at a strong start in life and this proposal from the federal government threatens to dismantle the progress that states like ours are doing to increase childhood opportunities,” Governor Lamont said. “As a country, we should be doing more to increase affordability and make it easier for working families to raise children, and this proposal from the federal government just does the exact opposite.”
“These proposed changes eviscerate standards for one of our nation’s most successful anti-poverty programs, effectively abdicating responsibility for educational quality for hundreds of thousands of American children and leaving states to pick up the tab,” Attorney General Tong said. “This is a cruel and callous insult to educators, parents and children everywhere and this proposal should be rescinded immediately.”
“Head Start is an integral partner in Connecticut’s early childhood system,” Commissioner Trueworthy said. “Its strength is rooted in the combination of comprehensive federal standards, federal investment, and local implementation. It’s critical that this program continues to serve Connecticut families and children with these vital comprehensive services.”
The proposed rule, which HHS announced in August, will substantially decrease the federal standards and protections that have defined Head Start as a high-quality, comprehensive early childhood program. The changes will reduce requirements related to teaching and learning, staffing, group size, coaching, and professional development; eliminate important suspension and expulsion protections; reduce the administrative cost cap from 15% to 5%; and shift federal responsibilities and potential costs to state and local systems.
In particular, these changes will impact children and families who rely most heavily on Head Start, including children with disabilities, children experiencing homelessness or housing instability, children in foster care, linguistically diverse learners, infants and toddlers, and families who face multiple barriers to accessing early childhood, health, developmental, and family support services.
The changes will also have implications beyond individual Head Start programs. Under Governor Lamont’s leadership, Connecticut has invested significantly in building a coordinated early childhood system that connects early learning, health, mental health, developmental services, family engagement, child care, nutrition, housing, and other community supports. Changes that reduce the scope or quality of Head Start services will create gaps within state and local systems.
Head Start is a two-generational model that delivers services to about 5,600 children in Connecticut age birth to 5 and their families. Head Start Preschool provides services for children ages 3 to 5 years old, and Early Head Start provides services for infants and toddlers from birth to age 3, as well as for pregnant women. Services are provided in public schools, child care centers, family child care homes, and in the family’s own home through a home visiting model.
In June, Governor Lamont directed the deposit of $411.7 million in state surplus funding into Connecticut’s the newly established Early Childhood Education Endowment, bringing the endowment’s total value to more than $700 million. Established by the governor last year, the endowment serves as a permanent state funding source to deliver the largest expansion of early childhood education services in Connecticut history. It is positioning Connecticut as a national leader in creating a sustainable, long-term strategy to expand access to affordable, high-quality early childhood education.
**Download: OEC’s public comment document to HHS on proposed rule regarding Head Start