The Sandbox: September 2026
Head Start’s Progress and Uncertain Future
For more than 60 years, Head Start has delivered the kind of comprehensive support the Children’s Opportunity Alliance and its partners seek to strengthen locally: high-quality early childhood education, health and family services, and resources that help children thrive while parents work, learn, and build economic stability.
In Montgomery County, Head Start programming is changing, with the County now funding Early Head Start with community-based providers. The local shift comes at an important moment, amid an uncertain federal backdrop.
Montgomery County’s Head Start programs began in 1965 through a partnership with Montgomery County Public Schools. Today, the program combines early learning with health, nutrition, developmental screening, family engagement, and referrals to community services. These supports help children arrive at Kindergarten ready to learn while giving parents and caregivers greater stability to participate in the workforce and the local economy.
Early Head Start grew from the traditional Head Start model. Authorized in 1994, it adapts Head Start’s comprehensive approach for pregnant women, infants, toddlers, and their families, recognizing how much development occurs in a child’s earliest years. Three nonprofits, including the Lourie Center, CentroNia, and most recently Easterseals, receive federal Early Head Start grants and offer services to Montgomery County families. In FY26, 110 families received home visiting services across these three providers, while 8 children received funded seats in center-based care. These numbers are down from 129 families receiving home visiting and 64 children receiving center-based seats in FY25, but will rebound once Easterseals completes renovation on a new center facility.
Reshaping Access
For the first time in 60 years, the County has changed its Head Start program to offer a comprehensive birth-to-five model that distributes grant funds to both MCPS and community-based programs. Through a new grant, the program will offer full-day, full-year care for infants and toddlers in participating family child care homes and centers, along with training, coaching, early intervention, mental health consultation, and family engagement supports. Local leaders and educators say the expansion will bring comprehensive services to families in familiar, trusted community-based settings.
Learn more about the new model here.
Children’s Opportunity Alliance Board Member Larry Bram, who works at Easterseals, a national nonprofit that supports people with disabilities, veterans, caregivers, and their families, noted that the organization has long supported early care and Head Start programs in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties and Washington, DC.
“Head Start staff are fantastic people who really care and get good outcomes. We know it works, and we are thrilled the County is shifting more seats to Early Head Start,” Bram said.
Lindelia Ventura, owner of ABC’s Childtime, a home-based child care program, has received the County’s EquiCare grant support for the past four years. This year, her program will be able to receive Early Head Start support for the first time.
For Ventura, Early Head Start can help fund trained educators while giving families the option of a small, culturally responsive child care setting in their own community.
“I wish more people understood that Early Head Start is much more than child care. It supports development and the whole family by connecting families with screenings, services, and other community resources,” Ventura said. “The first year is so important; children learn through play, relationships, routine, and their environment.”
As the County expands access to care for the earliest learners, we also face a growing concern about the future of Head Start.
What’s Happening Now
On August 7, 2026, the federal Office of Head Start published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would rescind and replace the Head Start Program Performance Standards last revised in 2024. The administration describes the proposal as a way to reduce federal burden, defer to state policy, and return more control to local programs. The public is invited to provide comments by October 6th.
Head Start providers and child-advocacy organizations across the country have raised serious concerns. These groups argue that replacing federal safeguards with a patchwork of state and local rules could weaken program quality, consistency, accountability, and access, reversing decades of progress for children and families.
Montgomery County and the local Head Start offices have voiced their opposition to the changes.
“Head Start has been changing lives in Montgomery County for more than 60 years, giving kids a real shot at showing up to kindergarten ready to learn. These proposed changes don’t cut red tape; they cut into what makes the program work: qualified teachers, high-quality early learning, and a voice for parents,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “We are standing with Head Start families, and we are asking the federal government to reconsider.”
Read Montgomery County’s response to the proposed federal changes.
The proposal stops short of eliminating Head Start, but it would change many of the federal standards that define the program’s comprehensive model. That tension matters as families, employers, and policymakers call for greater access to reliable, high-quality early care and education.
What It Could Mean for Montgomery County
The proposed changes could weaken program quality and threaten its stability. Reducing the amount of the grant that can be spent on administrative costs would severely limit staff training, mental health supports, compliance oversight, and coordination of comprehensive services. Mandating English-only instruction could weaken program quality by undermining social-emotional security and belonging for young children as they learn.
While we are excited about the expansion of Early Head Start in Montgomery County, let’s continue supporting the sustainability of the program by sharing your story about why Head Start standards matter during the open comment period in the Federal Register.
Take Action
Read the proposed federal rule or its plain-language summary.
Submit a public comment by October 6, 2026. Refer to docket ACF-2026-0595 and explain why strong Head Start standards matter to your family, work, or community. You may also consult Start Early’s step-by-step guide and customizable template.
Contact your members of Congress and share why Head Start matters to Montgomery County children, families, educators, and employers. Maryland Family Network’s Action Alert Protect Head Start and Early Head Start: Don't Weaken Supports for Families makes it easy to contact your legislators.