Complying With the New Head Start Performance Standards

On August 21, 2024, the federal Office of Head Start (OHS) released extensive regulatory changes to the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) in Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming (the Final Rule). These changes address a wide swath of topics, including staff wages and benefits, child safety, the integration of mental health into program services, and additional support for pregnant people.

While the effective date of the HSPPS is August 21, 2024, the actual compliance date for many of the new requirements is October 21, 2024, with a subset not taking effect until months, or even years, after that. OHS also indicated in the Final Rule that it will not begin monitoring the new requirements until August 21, 2025.

CAPLAW’s first article on this topic included a list of the requirements with compliance dates in 2024 to assist Community Action Agencies with understanding the HSPPS. A second article focused on a single requirement with a compliance date in February 2025. Future articles will address requirements with compliance dates in August 2025 and beyond.

Use the table below to locate the HSPPS topic, subtopic, or citation of interest to you, and access the article that provides a more in-depth analysis of that new standard.

*Acronyms:
ERSEA – Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, Attendance
AIAN – American Indian and Alaska Native
MSHS – Migrant and Seasonal Head Start
QRIS – Quality Rating and Improvement System

This resource is part of the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Legal Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) Center. It was created by Community Action Program Legal Services, Inc. (CAPLAW) in the performance of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Community Services Cooperative Agreement – Award Number 90ET0505-02. Any opinion, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.