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To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include child development and early learning as community services under the Federal work-study program, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends the Higher Education Act to allow child development and early learning programs, specifically Head Start and Early Head Start programs, to employ students through the Federal work-study program. The bill adds requirements for Head Start and Early Head Start programs that hire work-study students, including compliance with Head Start personnel standards before hiring and ensuring the student complies with all program policies. Work-study students in Head Start or Early Head Start programs may not be left alone with children and do not count toward staff-to-child ratio requirements. Students working in these programs serve as additional paid staff members but must be supervised by a regular paid staff member when working with children. The changes enable Head Start programs to access work-study funding while maintaining specific safeguards around student supervision and staffing standards.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
11 cosponsors
- Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] (R-ME)
- Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (D-VA)
- Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ] (D-AZ)
- Sen. Kim, Andy [D-NJ] (D-NJ)
- Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] (D-MN)
- Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM)
- Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA)
- Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] (D-NH)
- Sen. Slotkin, Elissa [D-MI] (D-MI)
- Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD)
- Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] (D-RI)
Actions (2)
- Jun 25, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. · senate
- Jun 25, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 25 (legislative day, June 24), 2025
Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Lujan, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Whitehouse) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include child development and early learning as community services under the Federal work-study program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Head Start for Our Future Act”.
SEC. 2. CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND EARLY LEARNING COMMUNITY SERVICES THROUGH FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.—Section 441(c)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087-51(c)(1)) is amended by striking “literacy training” and inserting “child development and early learning (including Head Start programs and Early Head Start programs carried out under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.)), literacy training”.
(b) Agreement Requirements.—Section 443(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087-53(b)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (10), by striking “and” after the semicolon;
(2) by redesignating paragraph (11) as paragraph (12); and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(11) provide assurances that any Head Start program, including an Early Head Start program, employing students through a work-study program under this part will comply with the requirements of sections 645A(j) and 648A(h), respectively, of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840a(j), 9843a(h)); and”.
SEC. 3. HEAD START AND EARLY HEAD START REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Early Head Start.—Section 645A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840a) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(j) Students in Work-Study Programs.—In the case of a student serving an Early Head Start program through a work-study program under section 441(c)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087- 51(c)(1))—
“(1) before the Early Head Start agency involved employs the student, the agency shall comply with the requirements of section 648A(g)(3);
“(2) the student shall comply with all personnel policies applicable to the Early Head Start program under the Head Start program performance standards issued under this subchapter; and
“(3) the student shall serve the Early Head Start program as an additional paid staff member but—
“(A) shall not be left alone with any child through the program, meaning that a paid staff member (not in such a work-study program) shall attend when the student so serves; and
“(B) shall not count toward the staff included in any staff-to-child ratio applicable to the Early Head Start program under this subchapter.”.
(b) Head Start.—Section 648A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843a) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(h) Students in Work-Study Programs.—In the case of a student serving a Head Start program (not an Early Head Start program) through a work-study program under section 441(c)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087-51(c)(1))—
“(1) before the Head Start agency involved employs the student, the agency shall comply with the requirements of subsection (g)(3);
“(2) the student shall comply with all personnel policies applicable to the Head Start program under the Head Start program performance standards issued under this subchapter; and
“(3) the student shall serve the Head Start program as an additional paid staff member but—
“(A) shall not be left alone with any child through the program, meaning that a paid staff member (not in such a work-study program) shall attend when the student so serves; and
“(B) shall not count toward the staff included in any staff-to-child ratio applicable to the Head Start program under this subchapter.”. <all>
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