Sneak Preview: ACF Aims To Nix Head Start Wage, Benefits Regs

(The following was excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (ACF) seeks responses by June 11 to a proposed rule under which the agency would remove certain wage and benefit requirements from the Head Start program performance standards that were implemented under an August 2024 rule during the Biden administration.

First published in the 1970s, the Head Start performance standards, detailed at 45 C.F.R. Part 1301-1305, establish requirements for grant recipients to meet to enable programs to design and deliver high-quality, comprehensive services to children and families. In a 2024 final rule, ACF added new provisions at 45 C.F.R. 1302.90(e) and (f) outlining specific requirements and deadlines for programs to provide wages and benefits, respectively, for the Head Start workforce.

For example, 45 C.F.R. §1302.90(e)(1) requires that by Aug. 1, 2031, a Head Start program must implement a salary scale, salary schedule, wage ladder or other similar pay structure for program staff salaries that reflects salaries or wages for all other staff in the program; promotes salaries that are comparable to similar services in relevant industries in their geographic area; and considers, at a minimum, responsibilities, qualifications and experience relevant to the position, as well as the schedule or hours worked. After Aug. 1, 2031, a program must review its pay structure at least once every five years to assess whether it continues to meet these requirements.

Likewise, the benefits standards at 45 C.F.R. §1302.90(f) require, by Aug. 1, 2028, that programs: (1) provide full-time staff with health care coverage, paid leave and behavioral health services; (2) facilitate access to health care coverage for part-time staff; and (3) facilitate access to child care subsidies and student loan forgiveness for eligible staff.

ACF is now proposing to remove the wage and benefit requirements at 45 C.F.R. §1302.90(e) and (f), stating that they exceed the Head Start Act’s statutory requirements by restricting program flexibility and imposing a federal minimum wage that would likely exceed the Fair Labor Standards Act level. Comments on the proposed rule can be submitted via Regulations.gov and are due by June 11.

(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)

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