New Trump policy would bar undocumented kids, families from federal Head Start programs
Michigan Head Start is left waiting for federal guidance in the wake of new rule requiring families to provide documentation to enroll their kids.
Head Start providers across the country on July 10 received notice from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that they are now required to verify the citizenship and immigration status of kids before enrollment, effectively barring some families from accessing Head Start programming.
Leadership of Michigan's Head Start Association said they await guidance on how to implement the new rule.
The policy requires documentation of immigration status as a condition for enrollment for the first time in the program’s 60-year history.
“Head Start grant recipients will be asked to determine eligibility for newly enrolled children based on the immigration status of the child,” according to Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Emily Hilliard. A press release from Health and Human services said it is changing its policy to better follow federal law and make sure that federal benefits only go to eligible Americans.
At the moment, though the policy is actively in effect, no children will be unenrolled from the program nor will Michigan Head Start providers’ enrollment practices change as grant recipients wait for answers around exactly how they will be expected to implement this policy, according to Robin Bozek, executive director of the Michigan Head Start Association.
“Like other recent executive actions, this notice does not provide guidance or detail on how to implement the policy,” said Bozek. “It is important for Head Start programs to continue to serve children and not make any immediate changes to enrollment policy while we sort out the nuances of this policy. There is no immediate enforcement mechanism and it will take some time to get answers to outstanding questions.”
For around 30 years, Head Start, a federal program that provides free preschool for children in low-income families, among other services, was exempt from a 1998 interpretation of a law that prohibits some immigrants from accessing public benefits. The new policy undoes this exemption for Head Start along with 22 other health and human service programs.
According to Hilliard, guidance around how Head Start grant recipients should actually implement the new policy is forthcoming from the Administration for Children and Families, the division of HHS that oversees Head Start. No further specifics were given. In the absence of details, basic questions remain unanswered and Head Start programs cannot act, said Bozek.
It is unclear, for example, which kinds of Head Start recipients are considered public entities and must comply with the policy, and which, like nonprofits, are not. It is also unclear whether the rule applies only to enrolling children who themselves are undocumented or whether children who are citizens with undocumented parents would also be barred from enrollment, said Bozek............
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