The Office of Head Start issued a draft of the highly anticipated Final Rule Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming on Friday, August 16, 2024. This is the first major revision to the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) since 2016. The official version is expected to be published tomorrow, Wednesday, August 21, 2024. The final rule will be effective 60 days after the official publication (i.e., in October) but some provisions will be effective years later.
Unsurprisingly, many commenters to the November 23, 2023 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) expressed grave concern that the proposed changes would be too costly to implement and some proposals micromanaged programs. OHS included many of the proposed changes from the NPRM with some adjustments and even eliminated some of its proposals. For example, OHS heard the field loud and clear and removed the requirement specifying the type of furniture that needs to be in the classroom. This client alert is not designed to give our comprehensive analysis of the final rule, but our initial takeaways from the OHS final rule.
OHS Final Rule Initial Takeaways
- Numerous costly changes were adopted despite concerns raised by the field. During the kickoff webinar on August 19, 2024, OHS Director Khari Garvin announced that there is no corresponding increase in funding to go along with the costly new regulatory requirements as only Congress can increase funding. To address concerns as to whether sufficient funds will ever be available, he acknowledged that in the absence of additional funding, programs may need to request further slot reductions or could also consider creative ideas for blending and braiding other funding. In addition, the regulations include waiver authority for some of the costly requirements. The waiver authority may not be the best solution as there are already substantial backlogs for other important requests.
- Adopted workforce supports with some adjustments. The final rule adopted many of the most costly proposed changes to support Head Start staff including requirements for pay equity with elementary school teachers and requiring certain benefits for full-time staff such as health insurance, paid leave, and free or low-cost behavioral health services. The regulations include delayed effective dates the wage parity and specified benefits requirements. In addition, those requirements are limited to programs with more than 200 Head Start slots.
- Adopted change to limit case loads of family service staff to 40. OHS responded to some commenters' preference for a 40-60 family assignment range by stating that it does not meet the goal of supporting staff wellness and limited the maximum caseload to 40. This change again has a cost associated with it with no increase in funding likely.
- Maintained 7 calendar-day health and safety reporting requirement. OHS rejected the proposal to reduce the reporting requirement to three business days and maintained the seven calendar-day reporting requirement previously issued in guidance.
- Adopted the proposal to increase health and safety obligations to prevent and address lead exposure. This change adds a new provision requiring testing and reporting requirements for potential lead exposure.
- Codified the clarification for eligibility for Migrant and Seasonal Head Start in the regulations. This change was already codified in a recent Congressional appropriation but now is clearly included in the Head Start regulations. Now families will be eligible if one family member is primarily engaged in agricultural work rather than requiring more than 50% of the family's income to be derived from agricultural work.
- Adopted the proposed change to the eligibility requirements to consider housing costs. This change is welcome news for both programs and families seeking to enroll in Head Start but will definitely increase the administrative burden on eligibility staff. Programs will be permitted to deduct certain housing costs from the family's income to determine whether they are income eligible for Head Start. This change will be effective 60 days after publication of the final rule and will require training and significant updates to the eligibility procedures.
Just as with the NPRM, OHS is introducing these final rule changes with several webinars, the first one will take place on August 28, 2024. They have also provided other resources like a redline of the final rule and a summary of the changes. Join attorneys Nicole M. Bacon and Ted Waters during a webinar on Thursday, September 12, 2024, to examine more of the new changes and the implications on what your program needs to do next.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.