As the Trump administration considers a major overhaul of Head Start, Texas child care advocates say the state's system isn't equipped to take their place.
The proposed changes from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department would eliminate hundreds of federal requirements – including for class sizes, staffing and health screenings -- for the $12 billion program that provides free early education, meals, health screenings and family support to young children from low-income families.
The administration says the changes would give states and local programs more control while saving more than $2 billion in administrative costs.
In Texas, early childhood advocates say there's a question about what happens when federal requirements go away.
Lyn Lucas is the associate director of early childhood education at the advocacy group Children at Risk. She said Texas' child care licensing system does not have the same level of accountability as Head Start.
Lucas said Head Start uses research-based assessments that look at children's development and interactions between teachers and children.
Texas requires child care providers to conduct developmental screenings, but Lucas said the standards for measuring quality and outcomes are not as rigorous.
"We don't have a system in place right now, or near the funding in place right now, that we would need to have to have the same level of accountability," she explained.
Lucas said that difference could become more important if the federal government shifts more responsibility to states.
Dominique McCain is CEO of Educational First Steps, a Dallas nonprofit that supports early learning in low-income neighborhoods.
She said her organization helped 41 families this year who had been on an 18-month waiting list for subsidized child care.
She said nonprofits like hers don't have the capacity to replace what Head Start provides.
"One of the things that makes Head Start as successful as it is as a system is it is fully funded," McCain said. "There is no other system that is fully funded."
Head Start is also different because it combines early education with other services for children and families, including health and developmental support. Roughly 69,000 Texas kids are enrolled in the program.
McCain said there isn't another organization or system currently providing that same level of support nationwide.
"There is no singular entity supporting early care and education in the way that Head Start is supporting early education at the national level," McCain said.
The federal proposal comes as Texas is taking a closer look at its own early childhood system.
A state task force is reviewing how programs are regulated and how the state can better coordinate those systems.
The recommendations are due to lawmakers in December.
The federal proposal is open for public comment for 60 days before the administration decides whether to finalize the changes.
Sujata Dand is KERA's early childhood education reporter. Got a tip? Email her at sdand@kera.org.
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