Illinois Head Start Association

10/12/2026

Head Start began in 1965 to give children from low-income families a strong start. Sixty-one years later, that purpose still shapes every Head Start and Early Head Start classroom, home visit, and family event across Illinois. This month, we're celebrating the children, families, and staff who carry it forward.

Explore Head Start's timeline: https://headstart.gov/about-us/article/head-start-timeline

10/07/2026

10/06/2026

Last call. Comments close tonight at 11:59 p.m. Eastern, 10:59 here in Illinois.

Today's prompt: https://ilheadstart.org/comment_challenge_-_day_30.php

Thirty days ago we asked you to write one comment. Some of you wrote a lot more than one. You read the prompts at six in the morning, encouraged others to do the same, wrote on a Saturday because that was the only quiet hour you had.

One more for the road. Pick the day that hit closest to home. Tell ACF the Head Start Program Performance Standards aren't just words on a page. They fulfill the promise.

Thank you for taking on the challenge.

All thirty days: https://ilheadstart.org/the_30-day_comment_challenge.php
File by 11:59 p.m. Eastern tonight, October 6.

10/05/2026

Day 29 of the 30 day comment challenge is up:
https://ilheadstart.org/comment_challenge_-_day_29.php

World Teachers' Day is October 5, honoring educators and the part they play in children's lives.

In Head Start that's 105,423 teachers and assistant teachers. A proposed federal rule would let programs staff down to whatever their state allows. At that point 80,078 is enough to comply.

For babies and toddlers, the same paragraph gives each teacher no more than four children and tells programs to minimize teacher changes while a child is enrolled. It's called continuity of care, and it goes out with the rest.

Our teachers aren't administrative burden. They make Head Start work.

What does a child get at your Head Start that you'd want every child in the country to get?

Submit your story as a public comment. Email [email protected] with ACF-2026-0595 in the subject line. For help getting started go to ilheadstart.org, link in bio or scan the QR Code. All thirty days: https://ilheadstart.org/the_30-day_comment_challenge.php

ACF-2026-0595 (RIN 0970-AD30). Comments close tomorrow, Tuesday, October 6 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern; 10:59 p.m. Central

10/04/2026

Day 28 of the 30 day comment challenge is up: https://ilheadstart.org/comment_challenge_-_day_28.php

Breakfast in the classroom. Lunch at the table. Food at family night. A quiet place for a mother to nurse her baby.

Somebody plans all of that, shops for it, and cooks it. This is spelled out in the current standards, with numbers: at least half of a child's daily nutrition in a full-day program and breakfast ready for any child who hasn't eaten yet.

The proposed rule takes all of it out. The section doing it is called "Furthers Emphasis on Health, Nutrition, and Physical Exercise."

What it adds is thirty minutes of movement per three and a half hours.

What does mealtime look like at your child's program? A breakfast, a family night, a cook who knows your child, help with nursing.

Submit your story as a public comment. For help on how to get started with your comment go to ilheadstart.org, link in bio or scan the QR Code. All thirty days: https://ilheadstart.org/the_30-day_comment_challenge.php

ACF-2026-0595 (RIN 0970-AD30). Comments close October 6 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern; 10:59 pm Central

10/04/2026

10/03/2026

Day 27 of the 30 day comment challenge is up: https://ilheadstart.org/comment_challenge_-_day_27.php

Federal law tells Head Start programs to help parents become "full partners in the education of their children."

Right now that means:
An open door during program hours
Two parent conferences a year
Two home visits a year
A say in what your child is taught
A parent committee at your center

That's a program built around the idea that parents know their child best. The proposed rule removes all five. What's left about parents is two sentences.

The elected Policy Council stays by law. The parent committee becomes optional.

What has that partnership looked like for you? A conference, a home visit, a conversation with a teacher, a committee meeting. Submit your story as a public comment.

For help on how to get started with your comment go to ilheadstart.org, link in bio or scan the QR Code. All thirty days: https://ilheadstart.org/the_30-day_comment_challenge.php

ACF-2026-0595 (RIN 0970-AD30). Comments close October 6 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.

10/03/2026

The Head Start program has been a federally funded U.S. program that provides free early childhood education, health, nutrition and family support services to low-income children and their families for over six decades. It is again under threat as proposed changes focus on shifting the program to th...

10/03/2026

Head Start has helped generations of children and families build a strong foundation for success. Now, proposed federal changes could significantly impact the program and the critical services families rely on.

YWCA Metropolitan Chicago CEO Nicole Robinson joined Audrina Sinclair, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago Board Member, to discuss what these proposed changes could mean for Head Start and why protecting access to high-quality early childhood education and family support matters.

As a Head Start funding recipient serving communities across our region, we see the impact of this program every day. We remain committed to advocating for the children and families who depend on it.

🎥 Watch the conversation and learn more about what’s at stake: https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/video/advocates-worry-about-planned-overhaul-of-head-start-program-by-trump-adminisration/

10/02/2026

It’s the last day to add your name to NHSA’s national Parent Sign-On Letter, which closes tonight, October 2, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Families across the country are speaking up about the proposed changes to the Head Start standards, and there’s still time to make your voice heard.

Head Start parents and caregivers, tell decision-makers what this program means for your child and what you want protected by signing the letter: https://nhsa.org/nprm-resources/how-to-speak-up-for-head-start/

Together, families like yours are writing the next chapter of Head Start’s story.