Home Grown’s Response to the Office of Head Start (OHS) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) “Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming”

Colorful toy train set with tracks, trees, a signal light, and a station with a police figure.

Home Grown is grateful for this opportunity to provide comments in response to the Office of Head Start (OHS) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) entitled “Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming,” introduced to add new guidance and clarity to the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS).

We appreciate the Administration’s persistent use of the powers of the executive branch to recognize the value of high-quality early learning opportunities for young children, the urgent need of families across the United States to access quality child care (particularly families with limited resources) and the need of the early learning workforce to earn family-sustaining wages for their critically necessary work. Our recommendations aim to ensure that family child care (FCC) providers, who constitute a vital part of the Head Start workforce, can share in the benefits of the changes proposed by the Administration for the Head Start workforce and help meet the need for high-quality, accessible and affordable early care and education.

The celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month is particularly important for the early care and education (ECE) field. For over 25 years, Jacqueline Chávez has provided child care to her community as a family child care provider.
La celebración del Mes de la Herencia Hispana es particularmente importante para el sistema del cuidado infantil. Por más de 25 años, Jacqueline Chávez ha brindado cuidado infantil bilingüe a su comunidad como una proveedora de cuidado infantil familiar.
Over the past several months, the Home Grown team has worked with provider leaders and our advisory communities to develop a set of principles for what a universal child care system should look like when it fully includes home-based child care. The result is our first draft of a shared vision: Universal Child Care, Built From Home.