The U.S. Congress must immediately call on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to rescind RFK Jr.’s proposed rules attacking Head Start and protect this vital program!
Since his time in office, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy has repeatedly undermined the well-being of our nation’s children, families and moms — the very population his department is tasked with serving and supporting.
Now, instead of helping families, RFK Jr. is attacking Head Start, the nation’s most important social and educational program for children, families and communities, by proposing to eliminate most of the program’s standards and rolling back critical regulatory rules. These changes would significantly weaken the very foundation of Head Start by diminishing its ability to provide quality early learning, health services, family engagement services and parent leadership opportunities that have boosted families for decades. These proposed changes threaten to increase classroom sizes, reduce teacher standards, and gut requirements supporting children with disabilities.
Over the past 60 years, Head Start has delivered childcare and comprehensive services to nearly 40 million children and counting, providing high-quality early education for our nation’s littlest learners so parents can work to support their families, while also facilitating important career opportunities for millions of child care workers.
As a concerned member of our community and passionate advocate for children and families, I urge members of Congress to protect this Head Start by immediately calling on HHS to rescind RFK Jr.’s proposed rules attacking this vital program. Changes that can diminish and dismantle Head Start during a worsening national child care crisis are unconscionable, and will only harm hundreds and thousands of children and families.
Daniel Butler, Salt Lake City