Issued August 19, 2024
WASHINGTON (August 16, 2024) — Today, the HHS's Administration for Children and Families issued a new rule “Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming.” This final rule aims to support and stabilize the federal Head Start program through new requirements for higher staff wages, benefits, and health and wellness supports. The rule goes a long way to addressing an urgent need to ensure there is a stable workforce to maintain consistent operations for disadvantaged communities. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) strongly supports this rule as it is urgently needed to ensure this critical early education program has the estable workforce required to maintain consistent operations in disadvantaged communities.
“Head Start workers are the unsung heroes of our communities,” said SEIU International President April Verrett. ”President Biden and Vice President Harris pledged to always stand with child care workers, ensuring they are recognized and rewarded fairly for their work. By publishing a strong final rule to strengthen the Head Start workforce, this Administration is once again showing us that they walk their talk when they say all care workers are essential to our economy and our future.”
Strong and stable relationships formed between children and their early educators create the foundation for effective learning and development, serving as a key factor in positive child outcomes. However, for decades, the Head Start program has been subsidized by the labor of low-paid workers, predominantly women of color and immigrants, performing historically undervalued work. The average wage for a Head Start teacher is $35,000. This is essentially at the HHS 2024 poverty level for a family of four – $31,200. Furthermore, many Head Start workers have student debt from obtaining bachelors' degrees in early education. This poverty wage, coupled with other factors, has led to high turnover rates among workers, disrupting the continuity of services critical for children’s developmental outcomes. As a result, there is a severe nationwide staffing shortage at its highest peak in two decades, with Head Start programs struggling to both retain and hire qualified staff.
The Head Start Program was established in 1964 as part of President Johnson’s war on poverty. This rule goes a long way to fulfilling the purpose of the Head Start program, to lift communities out of poverty, not perpetuate it.