CACFP Roundtable urges the Department of Health & Human Services to withdraw Notice re: PRWORA Interpretation of "Federal Public Benefit"

In July of 2025 the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), led by Secretary Robert

F. Kennedy, Jr., published a notice with a major policy shift for Head Start and Early Head Start, categorizing these programs as a "Federal Public Benefit." This reclassification limits access to Head Start and Early Head Start to individuals who are not citizens of the United States or qualified aliens. The process of "proving" eligibility for a federal public benefit impacts all Head Start families and would likely lead to limiting access for all families. Learn more here and here.

CACFP Roundtable joins members of the Head Start community and a broad coalition of early childhood advocacy partners to urge the Secretary to withdraw the notice.

The opportunity to comment closes on August 13. There are also a number of messages, resources, and templates here. Here is CACFP Rountable's letter if you are interested in choosing a similar message/path. There is also a click-through letter in which you just need to put your name, email address, and zip code, to sign onto the letters by National Women's Law Center (NWLC) or Zero to Three.

Questions or thoughts? We always love to hear from you: samantha@cacfproundtable.org

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