When James Osborne became a foster parent three years ago, he enrolled his son in Head Start, the federally funded early childhood education program. The Angela Martinez Child Development Center in Bakersfield, California, provided childcare while Osborne was at work, and helped the toddler with emotional regulation and socializing with peers.
Later, in 2025, Osborne enrolled his daughter in Early Head Start. When he first adopted her at 2 years old, she also struggled with emotional regulation, along with speech delays. But in her first few months of working with the program’s speech pathologists, her communication skills improved. She learned how to articulate when she was sad or mad, a skill her parents had struggled to help her develop.
“I’ve been able to witness my daughter go through these developmental changes and advances right in front of my eyes,” Osborne said.
Nationwide, Head Start programs provide education, health screenings and support services to low-income children and families, as well as kids who are homeless, in foster care or have a disability. And in the San Joaquin Valley — where large populations of immigrant farmworkers raise their families — the programs offer free childcare for working parents and support for children learning English.
Now, a proposal by the Trump administration would eliminate regulations that have guided Head Start’s work for decades. In August, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to end longstanding federal rules that govern Head Start’s curriculum, staffing, and performance standards.
The public has until Tuesday to weigh in.
If ultimately approved by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the proposal would scrap federal requirements to screen Head Start participants for hearing or vision impairment, maintain current staff-child ratios, and teach kids basic skills such as brushing their teeth. The plan would also require English-only instruction for children, including those who speak other languages at home.
Federal health department officials say the proposed changes would leave these and other standards up to state and local agencies and provide programs with more flexibility. A spokesperson for the department’s Administration for Children and Families explained the rationale in an email to The Imprint: “We are removing unnecessary red tape and trusting parents and local providers to make good decisions in the interest of the children and families they serve.”
Some state and local Head Start administrators don’t see it that way.
Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California, opposes the proposed changes and described the hardship they would cause in the nation’s most populous state.
She said she knows the long-held federal standards “sound like a lot.”
“But they’re not red tape,” Cottrill said. “They are the guidelines and the rulebook that we rely on every day for how we provide our program. In essence, they’re the recipe for Head Start, and we don’t want to see those go away and diminish the quality of the program.”
The proposed changes would also cut how much Head Start programs could spend on administrative costs from 15% to 5%. Edward Condon, executive director for Head Start WEST in Sacramento, said those administrative cuts could mean losing staff who manage funding, human resources and program accountability.
“It’s kind of a double-whammy,” he said, “throwing more responsibility to local programs and then cutting their administrative staff.”
English-learners rely on dual-language instruction
Statewide, Head Start served over 40,000 children and pregnant women from 2024 to 2025, according to a federal snapshot. The programs also provide prenatal and postpartum services.
According to the local Head Start provider Community Action Partnership of Kern, their programs serve 1,842 families in Kern and San Joaquin counties, including 753 enrolled in Early Head Start.
The Kern County programs have served immigrant families for decades. About 34% of participants say they primarily speak another language at home, according to the local provider.
Yolanda Gonzales, the Head Start director for service providers in Kern County and San Joaquin County, said the dual-language instruction is a vital resource for families. Having grown up as an English learner herself, Gonzales said she understands that language barriers can be challenging for children and parents in her communities.
Diminishing the quantity and quality of local programs “would be really detrimental to our families,” she said.
Gonzales is also concerned about the proposed federal changes that would eliminate requirements for health and safety assessments. Currently, Head Start requires that children are screened for health and developmental issues within the first 45 days of attendance.
The screenings are especially important in Kern County, which is designated a “Health Professional Shortage Area” by the California Department of Health and Human Services. Local children in Kern County also face environmental health risks because of the region’s poor air quality. Earlier this year, the county received a failing grade from the American Lung Association.
Failing to screen for health conditions such as asthma early on through Head Start programs could be detrimental to local children’s development and ability to learn, Gonzales said.
The Trump administration also proposes eliminating requirements around Head Start’s home visiting program, which brings some of the program’s services directly to families. This is particularly helpful for parents who lack reliable transportation and live in rural and agricultural communities, said Condon.
Under the new rule, there would be no federal guidance on caseloads, curriculum and how long home visits last.
Health and Human Services officials argue “the removal of these regulations would give programs greater flexibility.”
All told, Trump officials propose cutting the current guidelines, detailed in 133 pages, down to about 10 pages, policy analysts say.
The public has until Tuesday to comment on the Trump administration’s proposal through the Federal Register. Head Start providers and advocacy groups are encouraging people to submit feedback and weigh in with their experiences with the program.
“I know they’re trying to say that they’re trying to deal with cutting away from a lot of red tape — but when you start reading through most of what they’re trying to do, it seems like they’re trying to cripple the system,” said Bakersfield dad Osborne. “The way that Head Start and Early Head Start have been operating has had such a tremendous impact, just like in our baby girl’s life.”
Haydee Barahona is a California Local News Fellow covering child welfare and youth justice for The Imprint, and a regular contributor to The Intersection. She is based in Bakersfield, California. Contact her at hbarahona@imprintnews.org.
The Imprint is a partner of The Intersection and CVJC.