Penn State professor explains impact of Head Start overhaul

A major overhaul could be coming to Head Start, a national program that provides early education and health services to low-income families.

The news comes after an announcement on Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Karen Bierman is an Evan Pugh University Professor in the psychology department at Penn State University. She's concerned about the future of Head Start.

"We're just going to see the loss of this really strong supportive evidence-based delivery system," Bierman said. 

She said for decades, the centers have prepared children who may have fewer resources for kindergarten at a high quality, and a big reason is because of federal regulations.

"You develop more quickly, more fully when you're given the opportunity in those early years to have lots of rich opportunity, rich interactions with parents, with peers, and in an early school setting," Bierman said.

However, on Thursday, the Trump administration proposed replacing these regulations with state standards, claiming about $2 billion a year could go back into the program and create more than 200,000 additional slots.

"It just passes the cost onto the school districts because now children are entering school with much greater delays in their readiness," Bierman said. 

Instead, Bierman said these changes could strip the program to a babysitting service and increase the equity gap.

At the same time, others worry about what more could happen. At one point, a White House budget draft had proposed ending funding for the program entirely.

According to the nonprofit Pennsylvania Head Start Association, the program serves more than 30,000 children in more than 800 classrooms and home visitation by nearly 10,000 staff in the commonwealth.

In a statement, executive director Kara McFalls told KDKA, "For many families, especially in rural and underserved communities, Head Start is one of the few places where children can access high-quality early learning alongside health, developmental, and family support services so that they can go to work."

She added that the proposal is now open for public comment and urged others to make their voices heard.

"It could look like it's solving the problem for parents of providing more early childcare, but actually be undermining development," Bierman said.