CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

97

CHAPTER 177

Statutes of 2025

Introduced by Assembly Members Ahrens, Aguiar-Curry, and Hadwick

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Addis, Alvarez, Arambula, Ávila Farías, Bains, Bennett, Berman, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Caloza, Castillo, Chen, Connolly, Davies, DeMaio, Dixon, Elhawary, Ellis, Fong, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Jeff Gonzalez, Mark González, Haney, Harabedian, Hart, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Kalra, Krell, Lackey, Lee, Lowenthal, Macedo, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Patel, Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Ransom, Celeste Rodriguez, Michelle Rodriguez, Rogers, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Schiavo, Schultz, Sharp-Collins, Solache, Soria, Stefani, Ta, Tangipa, Valencia, Wallis, Ward, Wicks, Wilson, and Zbur)

May 14, 2025

Relative to the Head Start program.

Fiscal committee: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

This measure would recognize May 2025 as Head Start Month and call on the Congress and the President of the United States to protect and increase funding for Head Start.

WHEREAS, Since its May 18, 1965, founding by President Lyndon B. Johnson as part of his war on poverty, Head Start has helped over 40 million American children break the cycle of generational poverty; and

WHEREAS, May 18, 2025, marks the 60th anniversary of Head Start; and

WHEREAS, While the Head Start program is fully federally funded, its future is uncertain amid proposals to significantly reduce federal spending; and

WHEREAS, Head Start California is a nonprofit association dedicated to ensuring California’s children and families remain uplifted by the comprehensive services Head Start provides; and

WHEREAS, While Head Start programs are best known for providing high-quality, parent-driven early childhood education for children from birth to five years of age, inclusive, they also provide health, nutrition, social-emotional, behavioral, and dental services; and

WHEREAS, Children who attend Head Start are more likely to complete high school, more likely to enroll in and complete college, less likely to be involved in the justice system, less likely to be in foster care, and less likely to experience poor health; and

WHEREAS, Head Start programs uplift the entire family through apprenticeships, career technical assistance, family support services, and fatherhood engagement programs; and

WHEREAS, Parents of Head Start children are able to attain higher increases in educational attainment, improve their mental health, and deploy parenting practices that better support children’s cognitive development; and

WHEREAS, Investments in high-quality early childhood education programs like Head Start have been demonstrated to yield a 7- to 10-percent return on investment based on increased school and career achievements and reduced remedial costs; and

WHEREAS, In 2024, Head Start served 80,345 California children and their families, and directly employed 26,681 Californians with nearly $1.5 billion in Federal funding; and

WHEREAS, California’s Head Start programs have been challenged—nearly to the point of closing their doors—by the April 1, 2025, closure of the Federal Regional Office responsible for processing grant applications, distributing funds, and providing technical assistance; and

WHEREAS, Since January 2025, serious and unusual delays in the processing of federal payments to Head Start programs have repeatedly put programs at risk of closing; and

WHEREAS, Head Start is an investment in building the American dream; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature recognizes May 2025 as Head Start Month; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature calls on the Congress and the President of the United States to protect and increase funding for Head Start, a vital program; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.