Head Start and Early Head Start: who qualifies in 2026

What Head Start and Early Head Start are

Head Start is a federally funded early childhood program for families with low incomes, run locally by nonprofits, school districts, tribes and public agencies. Early Head Start serves pregnant women, babies and toddlers under 3; Head Start Preschool serves children from 3 until they can start school. Migrant and Seasonal Head Start serves farmworker families, and tribal programs serve American Indian and Alaska Native children.

It’s more than a classroom. Programs must check that each child has a regular doctor and health insurance, screen vision and hearing within 45 days, help get checkups and dental care up to date, serve meals that cover a third to two-thirds of a child’s daily nutrition depending on hours, and work with families on their own goals. Children get care in a center, at home through weekly 90-minute home visits, or with a licensed family child care provider. Some Early Head Start places sit in regular licensed daycares through Early Head Start–Child Care Partnerships.

Head Start is free for eligible families. A program can charge only for extra hours beyond what Head Start pays for, such as before- or after-school care, and it can’t make enrollment depend on paying for them. Programs also can’t expel a child because of behavior, and suspensions are allowed only as a temporary last resort.

Source: Head Start Program Performance Standards, 45 CFR Part 1302 (§1302.18 fees, §1302.17 suspension and expulsion, §1302.21–.23 program options, §1302.42 and §1302.44 health and meals).

Who qualifies in 2026

A child (or a pregnant woman, for Early Head Start) is eligible if any one of these is true:

• The family’s income is at or below the federal poverty line (table below).
• The family gets, or is eligible for, public assistance: TANF cash assistance (including child-only payments), SSI or SNAP food benefits, or would be eligible for them without child care. The program needs paperwork from the benefits office.
• The child is experiencing homelessness, as defined by the McKinney-Vento Act (for example, staying with others because of losing housing, or living in a motel or shelter).
• The child is in foster care.

Programs can also fill up to 35% of their places with families earning between 100% and 130% of the poverty line, once they’ve served eligible families first, and up to 10% with children who don’t meet any of the criteria but would benefit, such as children with disabilities. At least 10% of a program’s enrollment must be children eligible for special education or early intervention services, unless HHS waives it. Tribal programs have more room to enroll families above the income limits, and Migrant and Seasonal programs serve families whose income comes mainly from farm work. Head Start itself has no work requirement, though longer hours paid for by a state child care subsidy can come with one.

Add $5,680 for each person after 8. Alaska and Hawaii have higher lines (the checker below uses them). Source: HHS poverty guidelines for 2026 (Federal Register, Jan. 15, 2026); eligibility rules in 45 CFR §1302.12 and §1302.14.

The housing adjustment. Since 2024, a program may subtract housing costs (rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance and property taxes) above 30% of a family’s income when it checks eligibility. Not every program does, so ask.

Check whether your family qualifies

How to apply

1. Find the programs that serve your area on the Head Start Locator or in our Texas list and California list, which shows each site’s phone number and, for licensed centers, its state inspection record.
2. Call or apply online with the program. You don’t have to wait for fall: many programs take applications year-round, and every program keeps a waiting list.
3. Have an interview, in person or by phone, and bring proof of income for the last 12 months or last calendar year (tax forms, pay stubs or an employer’s statement), a notice from the TANF, SSI or SNAP office, or the paperwork that shows foster care or homelessness if those apply. A program can’t insist on a birth certificate if getting one would keep your child out.
4. Wait for a place. Programs rank applicants by their own selection criteria, such as income, homelessness, foster care, disability and the child’s age. Where high-quality public pre-K is available for a full school day, programs must give priority to younger children (unless that would disrupt a partnership with the school district).
5. Once enrolled, a Head Start child stays eligible through the end of the next program year, though a program may decline to re-enroll a child whose family income has changed when a child with greater need is waiting; Early Head Start children stay eligible while they’re enrolled. Moving from Early Head Start to Head Start means a new eligibility check.

Source: 45 CFR §1302.12, §1302.13, §1302.14.

Head Start vs daycare vs pre-K

Children per adult

Head Start’s limits are tighter than Texas’s minimums (for babies, the same 1-to-4 ratio but in smaller groups) and than California’s toddler rules. California’s infant ratio (1 to 4) matches Head Start’s, and its limit for a teacher and an aide (15 children) is stricter than Head Start’s 17 or 20; its 18 with fully qualified staff is stricter than Head Start’s 20 for 4- and 5-year-olds. Where the state rule is stricter, programs follow it.

Sources: 45 CFR §1302.21; 26 Texas Administrative Code §746.1601 and §746.1609 (Texas ratios); 22 California Code of Regulations §101216.3, §101216.4 and §101416.5 (California ratios). See also daycare vs preschool vs pre-K.

Who inspects Head Start, and what the records show

The federal Office of Head Start monitors every grant with its own reviews, and a site’s building must meet state and local licensing requirements even when the state exempts it from a license. Whether the state also inspects it depends on how it’s set up: in Texas, Head Start classes that are part of a public school’s preschool program, with no before- or after-school care, are exempt from child care licensing, so they have no state inspection record, and that often includes classes a nonprofit runs inside a school; Head Start centers in their own buildings are generally licensed and inspected like any daycare. In California, many Head Start classrooms are in licensed centers, including ones run by school districts.

We matched the federal list of Head Start sites to the licensed centers at the same street address (or, failing that, a licensed center with a matching name in the same ZIP code nearby) and compared their state inspection records:

• Texas: since Oct 18, 2021, the 572 licensed centers at Head Start sites had 6.0 high-risk citations per 100 inspections; the other 9,039 licensed centers had 13.6. Over the past 12 months: 5.4 vs 11.1.
• California: since Feb 8, 2021, the 1,585 licenses at Head Start sites had 0.7 Type A citations (the most serious kind) per 100 inspections; other licensed centers had 3.8. They also drew fewer published complaint investigations: 0.41 per license vs 0.80.

That fits Head Start’s smaller classes and extra federal oversight. In Texas the gap holds for centers of similar size; in California, part of the complaint gap reflects that more Head Start sites are run by school districts and other public agencies. It compares groups, not individual sites, so look up the record of the center you’re considering.

Texas: high-risk citations found at inspections (complaint investigations excluded), divided by inspections. California: Type A citations found at inspections, divided by inspections; complaints are published complaint investigations, each counted once. Sites matched by ZIP code, house number and street name, or by a matching name in the same ZIP code nearby; several licenses can share one address; school-age-only licenses are left out. Federal list from the Office of Head Start’s service location file (as of Oct 16, 2026); 45 CFR §1302.21(d); Texas Human Resources Code §42.041(b)(9).

Immigration status and Head Start

In July 2025, HHS announced that it would treat Head Start as a “federal public benefit” under the 1996 welfare law, which would have shut out children who aren’t “qualified” immigrants under that law. HHS said the change took effect immediately, but it issued no verification instructions, and courts blocked it:

• On Sept. 11, 2025, a federal judge in Washington state issued a nationwide preliminary injunction covering Head Start, in a case brought by Head Start associations; the government has appealed to the Ninth Circuit (Feldesman; case summary).
• On Sept. 21, 2026, a federal judge in Rhode Island made permanent an injunction in a case brought by 20 states and D.C., including California, ruling the directive unlawful (Associated Press; California Attorney General). Texas isn’t a party to that case; Texas families are covered by the Washington injunction while the appeal goes on.

Head Start’s own eligibility rules don’t ask about immigration status. Court cases can change; ask your local program if you’re unsure.

Changes HHS has proposed

In August 2026, HHS proposed a rule, “Reducing Federal Burden for Head Start Programs,” that would remove many of the federal standards described on this page. If it’s adopted as proposed:

• Head Start’s own class-size and ratio limits would go; programs would follow state licensing and child care subsidy rules instead.
• The limits on suspension and the ban on expulsion would be removed.
• Programs could no longer subtract housing costs when checking income, self-declarations of eligibility would no longer be accepted, and programs could require proof of a child’s age.
• The 1,020-hour requirement for Head Start Preschool and the home-visit schedules would be removed; an older federal floor of 128 or 160 class days a year would remain.

Comments closed Oct. 6, 2026. Until a final rule is issued, the current standards apply (Federal Register, Aug. 7, 2026).

Find a Head Start near you

Elsewhere, use the Head Start Locator.

Common questions

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