Project 2025 puts Head Start on the chopping block

“Research has demonstrated that federal Head Start centers, which provide preschool care to children from low-income families, have little or no long-term academic value for children,” the policy handbook states. “Given its unaddressed crisis of rampant abuse and lack of positive outcomes, this program should be eliminated along with the entire (Office of Head Start).”

The report references a 2022 report from the Office of the Inspector General that found 27 percent Head Start grant recipients had incidents of child abuse, lack of supervision or unauthorized releases to adults. The agency found more than 1,000 instances of abuse, neglect or unauthorized release between October 2015 and May 2020.

The report is based on adverse findings from the Administration for Children and Families — one finding could represent multiple incidents. The most cited issue was lack of supervision, noted at about 1 in 5 grant recipients. The report found 12 percent of recipients had incidents of child abuse.

In a statement provided to The Hill, an HHS spokesperson said, “The Administration for Children and Families takes every child safety incident seriously. Staff swiftly respond to any allegations to ensure children involved receive the support they need. Programs take corrective action to prevent future incidents and ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential in a safe and healthy environment. 

An HHS official also stressed that while this report reviewed roughly a thousand incidents, Head Start benefitted nearly a million children in the U.S. overall.

“Our data show that Head Start programs are extraordinarily safe for children with 99.99 percent of children served not impacted by a safety incident,” the HHS spokesperson said.

Hatcher challenged the notion that Head Start is ineffective.

“What it has done to stand up individuals around this country; very few social programs of note emanating from the federal government that truly work—most are burdened by what is typical of bureaucracy,” Hatcher said. “The alumni list is amazing, just look at some of the people: (Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.) is a Head Start alumnus, our former Secretary of Early Childhood Education Barbara Cooper is from Head Start. The list is endless of individuals have benefited.”

A previous 2018 analysis from the Center for American Progress found that Head Start provides a critical supply of rural child care. In the 10 states surveyed, rural Head Start programs represented 22 percent of the overall child care supply. For instance, in Georgia, Head Start made up more than one-quarter of the center-based child care programs in rural counties and nearly half of the center-based programs in frontier counties. And in Michigan, Head Start made up more than one-third of the center-based child care programs and more than 40 percent of the center-based programs in frontier counties.

The Montgomery program services 1,200 children under the federal poverty level, with a waiting list of 1,900.

New data from Child Care Aware of America found that the national average price for child care in 2023 was $11,582. That price tag is unattainable for families who qualify for Head Start and is unaffordable for many American families. For families at the poverty level, which is the income eligibility threshold for Head Start, $11,582 represents 38.6 percent of their income as of 2023.

Meanwhile the state has been grappling with one of the nation’s lowest labor force participation rates and has prioritized access to childcare as one important barrier to overcome to make workforce gains.

Backlash against Project 2025 led to Donald Trump’s public disavowal of the policy playbook, despite may of its authors having ties to his first presidential administration. Kamala Harris in her speech upon receiving the Democratic nomination for President pointed to Project 2025 as the roadmap for a Trump presidency and noted the threat to Head Start.