Deregulation or Dismantling? Inside the Proposed Head Start Rule Changes with Yvette Sanchez Fuentes

In this special edition of Early Childhood Chats, Andy Roszak sits down with Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, SVP Government Relations and Research at Start Early and former Director of the Office of Head Start, to break down major proposed changes to the Head Start program — and what they could mean for children, families, educators, and programs across the country.The proposed rulemaking could eliminate or change significant portions of the existing Head Start Performance Standards. Andy and Yvette discuss some of the biggest areas of concern, including services for children with disabilities, language and instruction, support for families experiencing homelessness, parent and family engagement, administrative funding, classroom quality, and the future of Head Start's comprehensive services.They also explain what happens during the federal rulemaking process, what could happen after the public comment period closes, and why Head Start programs should use their own experiences and data to tell their stories.The message from Yvette is clear: submit a comment.The public comment deadline discussed in this episode is October 6.Whether you're a Head Start director, teacher, administrator, parent, early childhood professional, or advocate, this conversation will help you better understand what's being proposed and why this moment could have long-term implications for Head Start and early childhood education.Topics include:• Head Start proposed rule changes• Head Start Performance Standards• Federal Head Start regulations• Public comment process• Early childhood education policy• Services for children with disabilities• Dual language learners• Family engagement and comprehensive services• Head Start funding and administration• The future of Head StartResources:https://togetherforheadstart.org/----------------------------Early Childhood Chats is hosted by Andrew Roszak - JD, MPA, EMT-PExecutive Director at the Institute for Childhood Preparedness. The Institute for Childhood Preparedness is proud to use its decades of experience to offer comprehensive and expert disaster and emergency preparedness trainings live in-person, via webinar, and on-demand online. // Visit: https://www.childhoodpreparedness.org/ to find out more // Schedule your training today https://www.childhoodpreparedness.org/trainingFOLLOW UShttps://www.instagram.com/childhoodpreparedness/ https://www.facebook.com/ChildPreparedhttps://twitter.com/ChildPreparedhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/institute-for-childhood-preparedness© Institute for Childhood Preparedness 2026 all rights reserved