Comment on the Head Start Proposed Rule
The proposed rule would remove all twelve regulations that help children experiencing homelessness enroll and stay in Head Start. New survey data show how much Head Start programs, school districts, and shelters rely on them.
The comment period closed on October 6, 2026.
Thank you to everyone who submitted a comment, responded to our survey, shared examples from your community, or helped amplify these concerns. You made sure the experiences of children and families experiencing homelessness are part of the public record.
Read SchoolHouse Connection’s final comments (PDF) →
What comes next: ACF will review the comments and decide whether and how to move forward with a final rule. The final rule could retain, modify, or abandon provisions in the proposal.
Two points matter in the meantime. The current Head Start Program Performance Standards on homelessness remain in effect, and programs must continue to comply with them unless and until ACF issues a final rule that changes them. Head Start programs operated by local educational agencies also remain subject to the McKinney-Vento Act’s requirements for children experiencing homelessness.
SchoolHouse Connection will continue to monitor the rulemaking, press for strong implementation of Section 640(m), work with Congress to protect Head Start access, support programs and liaisons with practical assistance, and keep our network informed as opportunities for action arise.
On August 7, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed to rescind and replace the Head Start Program Performance Standards. The proposed rule would remove all twelve regulations that tell Head Start and Early Head Start programs how to find, enroll, and keep enrolled children experiencing homelessness. Congress directed the Secretary to issue those regulations in 2007. HHS issued them in 2016 after public comment.
A new SchoolHouse Connection survey of 354 Head Start staff, school district liaisons, and shelter providers found that most rely on these exact protections today, and that removing them would leave children experiencing homelessness unidentified, delayed, or unable to enroll. Read the survey findings (PDF) →
SchoolHouse Connection asks HHS to keep all twelve provisions in the final rule. Comments are due October 6, 2026
We have prepared two sets of materials:
- One for people who are commenting mostly about homelessness, and
- One for people who are commenting mostly on other aspects of the rule, but wish to include homelessness.
If your Head Start comment is mostly about homelessness:
Our homelessness public comment guide explains what the proposed rule would remove and what makes a comment count. It includes a template with the provisions already listed, the legal basis already written, and prompts for the part only you can supply.
If your comment covers the Head Start proposed rule more broadly, and you wish to include homelessness.
If your organization is commenting on many parts of the proposed rule, and you want to include a section on children experiencing homelessness, we have written three paragraphs you can insert.
Children experiencing homelessness
The proposed rule would rescind §§ 1305.2, 1302.11(b)(2)(i)(C), 1302.12(c)(1)(iii) and (i)(3), 1302.13, 1302.14(a)(1), 1302.15(b)(3), 1302.15(e), 1302.16(c)(1), 1302.16(c)(2), 1302.53(a)(2)(vi), and 1302.72(a). Together these performance standards define homelessness for Head Start purposes and require programs to include these children in the community assessment, recruit them, weigh homelessness in annual selection criteria, verify their status without an income test, enroll them while records are gathered, address transportation, coordinate with the school district McKinney-Vento liaison, and support a child’s transition when a family moves. § 1302.15(c) permits a program to reserve a slot for homeless children and children in foster care for up to 30 days when a vacancy occurs.
These performance standards are necessary to carry out Section 640(m) of the Head Start Act, which directs the Secretary to issue rules removing barriers to the enrollment and participation of homeless children. Yet the Department proposes to replace all of them with § 1301.02(g), which states that homeless children qualify for eligibility and that programs should address eligibility determinations in accordance with the Act. However, a regulation that refers Head Start programs back to a statutory instruction to the Secretary leaves no operative requirements in place, and will result in the same barriers for homeless children that Congress sought to remove.
The preamble reminds programs that the statute specifies that the Secretary shall issue rules to remove barriers to the enrollment and participation of children experiencing homelessness on the very same pages where it rescinds the rules the Secretary issued. It states that programs would retain flexibility in documenting homelessness, yet proposed 1301.02(c)(4) prohibits the one form of documentation that is available to families who are not staying in shelters or receiving homelessness services from a school district or other provider. The Department has not explained how the removal of every rule issued under Section 640(m) satisfies the direction Congress gave it.
Twelve Provisions on Homelessness in the Head Start Program Performance Standards
- Download the “Twelve Provisions on Homelessness in the Head Start Program Performance Standards” as a PDF →
- A short summary of the proposed Head Start rule (PDF) →
- A detailed analysis of the proposed Head Start rule (PDF) →
Each provision below is in the current Head Start Program Performance Standards and would be removed by the proposed rule. Together they carry out Section 640(m) of the Head Start Act, which directs the Secretary to issue rules removing barriers to the enrollment and participation of homeless children. The first column gives the number to use in a comment.
| Homelessness Provision | What it does |
| § 1305.2 | Defines “homeless children” using the McKinney-Vento definition, which includes families staying with others, in motels, and in cars. |
| § 1302.11(b)(2)(i)(C) | Requires the community assessment to include data on children experiencing homelessness, gathered in collaboration with the school district McKinney-Vento liaison. |
| § 1302.12(c)(1)(iii) and (i)(3) | Makes a child experiencing homelessness eligible without an income test, and lets a program accept a letter from a shelter or school, other records, or the family’s signed statement as verification. |
| § 1302.13 | Requires programs to make specific efforts to locate and recruit children experiencing homelessness. |
| § 1302.14(a)(1) | Requires programs to weigh homelessness in the selection criteria they set each year. |
| § 1302.15(b)(3) | Requires programs to make efforts to keep a child enrolled, or transition the child to another program, when the family moves. |
| § 1302.15(c) | Allows programs to reserve up to three percent of slots for children experiencing homelessness and children in foster care, for up to 30 days when a vacancy occurs. |
| § 1302.15(e) | Exempts children experiencing homelessness from state immunization enrollment requirements while records are obtained. |
| § 1302.16(c)(1) | Allows a child to attend for up to 90 days while the family obtains immunization and other records. |
| § 1302.16(c)(2) | Requires programs to use community resources, where possible, to provide transportation when a family experiencing homelessness has none. |
| § 1302.53(a)(2)(vi) | Requires programs to build partnerships with the school district McKinney-Vento liaison and with homeless service providers. |
| § 1302.72(a) | Requires programs to support a family’s transition to a new program when the family moves out of the service area. |
Sources: 45 CFR Parts 1302 and 1305 (2024); RIN 0970-AD30, proposed §§ 1301.02(c)(4), 1301.02(g), and 1301.03(c).