Make your voice heard: Comments on proposed Head Start changes end Oct. 6.
United Way of Greater Cincinnati established the Head Start Innovation Fund (HSIF) in 2025 in response to two interconnected challenges facing community-based Head Start providers: increasing teacher turnover and retirements that were reducing workforce stability, and growing social-emotional and behavioral needs among young children.
WHAT IS HEAD START?
Head Start is a federal early childhood program designed to help children from families with low incomes build a strong foundation for school and life. Its approach extends beyond early learning to support children’s health, social-emotional development and family well-being.
Cincinnati also has a special connection to Head Start’s history. Theodore “Ted” Berry, A civil rights leader, attorney and later Cincinnati’s first Black mayor, helped establish Cincinnati’s Community Action Commission before joining President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. In Washington, Berry led the Office of Economic Opportunity’s Community Action Programs, where he oversaw the early implementation of Head Start, along with programs such as Job Corps and Legal Services.
Working with five nonprofit Head Start providers across our region, the Fund explored a straightforward idea: What happens when we invest not only in children, but also in the educators who support their development every day?
Through a partnership with the Consortium for Resilient Young Children, participating educators across 19 classrooms received professional development paired with classroom observation, individualized coaching, reflective practice and trauma-informed behavior and classroom management strategies. Rather than treating professional development as a one-time training, the initiative surrounded educators with ongoing support to help them translate knowledge into everyday practices.
After its first year, the results offer promising evidence that strengthening educator capacity can contribute to stronger classrooms, greater workforce stability and improved outcomes for children. All participating classrooms met or exceeded the goal of 80% average attendance and retained teachers at a higher rate.
100%
of participating classrooms met or exceeding the 80% attendance goal.
These local lessons come at an important moment for Head Start nationally.
In August 2026, the federal Administration for Children and Families proposed significant revisions to the Head Start Program Performance Standards. Among other changes, the proposal would:
The proposal is intended to reduce federal administrative burden and give Head Start providers greater local flexibility. Our local experience, however, shows why it is important to consider the value existing requirements provide. For example, assessment requirements can help identify where teachers need support to strengthen their practice, while service-duration requirements help provide consistency for children and reliable child care for working parents. As policymakers consider where greater flexibility is appropriate, the key question is whether removing a requirement also removes some of the infrastructure that helps educators, children and families succeed.
These results suggest that generic training alone is not the entire solution. Educators benefited from opportunities to receive individualized coaching, reflect on their practice and apply what they learned to real situations in their classrooms. Participants emphasized that trauma-informed coaching and reflective practice were important parts of that growth. Coaching provided a supportive space to reflect on challenging situations, consider how a child’s experiences may influence their behavior, and think through how to respond. For example, coaches worked with teachers to identify and implement practices that support age-appropriate choices and calm spaces to maintain a stable response and environment during distress.
Educators described this support not as addressing a lack of skill, but as guidance that helped them apply their skills with greater confidence while navigating the stress and emotional demands of their work. Ongoing coaching, reflection and trauma-informed support helped educators translate knowledge into everyday practice while also tending to their own well-being.
On paper, assessment requirements and structured coaching can look like additional process. In practice, they provide the feedback loop that helps professional development translate into stronger teaching.
“Coaching helped me shift my mindset from asking, ‘Why didn’t you?’ to asking, ‘What got in the way?’ It helped me focus more on building relationships, recognizing families’ strengths and taking care of myself so I can continue showing up for families.”
— Ayesha, Family Service Worker
These findings do not establish that the Head Start Innovation Fund alone caused those outcomes. However, the results do suggest what can happen when we invest in the adults around children. Rather than expecting teachers to manage challenging behavior on their own, the project strategically surrounded educators with training, coaching, reflective practice and targeted support. Teacher practice improved, confidence grew, and children’s social-emotional outcomes moved in the right direction.
All participating classrooms retained teachers at a higher rate than peer classrooms without supports.
The first year of the Head Start Innovation Fund reinforces a simple lesson: supporting young children requires supporting the adults and systems around them.
Based on what we are learning locally, United Way of Greater Cincinnati encourages federal, state and local leaders to protect and strengthen public investment in high-quality early childhood education, including the workforce and infrastructure necessary for children to thrive.
If you, your family, your organization or your community have been positively impacted by Head Start, consider sharing your experience as part of the federal public-comment process by Oct. 6, 2026. Firsthand experiences can help federal officials understand what Head Start looks like in practice, which supports make a difference for children and families, and what should be protected or strengthened as the program evolves.
Comments on the proposed changes are open throuph Oct. 6, 2026. Your voice can help ensure community experiences are part of the conversation.
Join our newsletter to stay informed on the latest updates from United Way.
By subscribing you agree to our Privacy Policy and provide consent to receive updates from our company.
From food to shelter, your kindness starts the journey toward lasting stability for local families.
