Expanding Head Start Eligibility Act of 2025
Expanding Head Start Eligibility Act of 2025 would broaden who counts as “public assistance” for Head Start eligibility. By redefining public assistance to include major federal programs such as TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), SSI (Supplemental Security Income), SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), and federal housing assistance (along with related nutrition and Indian Reservation programs and certain state-funded equivalents), the bill would make more families eligible to enroll their children in Head Start. The changes are designed to reach more low-income families through programs they already rely on, potentially increasing Head Start participation and access to early education. The bill also gives the Secretary the authority to add other benefits to the public-assistance definition in the future. It was introduced in the House on January 24, 2025, sponsored by Rep. Garamendi (with a group of cosponsors) and referred to the Education and Workforce Committee. The text provided mainly outlines the new definition of public assistance; it does not include a new funding authorization or a specific enrollment timeline.
Key Points
- 1Redefines “public assistance” in the Head Start Act to include major programs such as TANF (Title IV-A of the Social Security Act), SSI (Title XVI), SNAP, FDPIR, NAP, state-funded food assistance programs with SNAP-like income standards, and federal housing assistance (Section 8). It also allows for other benefits provided under federal law as determined by the Secretary.
- 2The list in the bill explicitly covers several federal programs already widely used by low-income families, which would qualify those families for Head Start eligibility when they receive these benefits.
- 3WIC (the Women, Infants, and Children program) is mentioned in the bill’s title, but the specific statutory text shown does not explicitly list WIC among the enumerated public-assistance programs (a potential discrepancy between the title and the text).
- 4The Secretary would have the flexibility to add other public-assistance benefits beyond the enumerated programs, allowing the definition to adapt over time.
- 5The change would affect Head Start eligibility criteria (potentially expanding the pool of eligible children) and could influence enrollment demand, program planning, and funding needs at the local Head Start level.