Head Start & Early Head Start
Posts

Head Start: Populations Served
Head Start’s mission goes beyond the classroom: it is designed to reach the children and families who need it most, which is why eligibility is intentionally built around those facing the greatest barriers to opportunity.

Head Start: Comprehensive Services
Head Start pairs high-quality early learning with comprehensive services that support a child’s health and development while helping families build stability and self-sufficiency from infancy through the start of kindergarten.

STATEMENT: FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling on Proposed Head Start Rule
This morning, the White House released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing changes to regulations governing the Head Start program.
Early Head Start/Head Start
Head Start is a federal program that delivers comprehensive early learning, health, nutrition, and family support services to lowest-income families with young children who are experiencing poverty. Head Start Preschool …

State Of Play: The Head Start NPRMs (Rules and Regulation Changes)
As part of a “Child Care Reform Package” released on May 11, the Administration issued four separate policy actions: a Head Start Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Final Rule, a Temporary Assistance for Need Families (TANF) Information Memorandum, and a CCDF Dear Colleague Letter.

CAPSULE COLLECTION: Head Start
This one-stop-shop collection of the top facts, resources, and data around Head Start and Early Head Start.

Head Start Polling Highlights 2025-26
First Five Years Fund has a long track record of polling which consistently shows that Early Head Start and Head Start have strong support among Republican, Democratic, and Independent voters across the country.

FFYF State Fact Sheets: Child Care and Early Learning, 2026
FFYF’s 2026 State Fact Sheets on child care and early learning provide state-by-state data for all 50 states and Washington, DC.

New CAP report on Early Learning and Literacy
The Center for American Progress recently released a report highlighting the need for partnership between early childhood and K-12 systems to address declining literacy rates in children.

STATEMENT: FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling on Proposed FY27 House Funding Levels for Child Care and Early Learning Programs
On June 4th, the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee released its FY2027 funding proposal, including federal investments in child care and early learning …