L.A. County Congressional Leaders Connect with Head Start in Los Angeles

L.A. County Congressional Leaders Connect with Head Start in Los Angeles

Fri Aug 21 15:36:00 PDT 2026

Reps. Friedman and Gomez visited Head Start school sites, met with parents and engaged with L.A. County's youngest learners.

The Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) and Para Los Niños (PLN) welcomed Congresswoman Laura Friedman and Congressman Jimmy Gomez during their visits to Head Start classrooms in the Hollywood and Westlake communities this August. Each member visited a site in their respective district to engage with young learners, hear their parents' concerns and discuss a recent proposal that would significantly scale back the Head Start Program Performance Standards, the program's framework of quality benchmarks.

"I am so grateful to Congresswoman Friedman and Congressman Gomez for taking the time to engage with us on the recently proposed rule," said Luis Bautista, LACOE Head Start and Early Learning Division executive director. "I hope our families and communities understand that nothing has changed yet. Head Start programs continue to enroll and operate with the same high quality as ever."

For more than 61 years, the Head Start program has provided over 40 million children and their families a springboard to success in school and in life. Head Start represents the community's collective investment in its youngest learners, enabling school readiness by instilling healthy habits, fostering social-emotional growth, connecting families with needed resources and ensuring early identification of developmental concerns, all while empowering parents as their children's first and best teachers.

Visiting classrooms in the Los Angeles communities of Hollywood and Westlake, both Congressmembers heard directly from parents and teachers about how Head Start's support for children and their families goes far beyond care and learning, providing critical safety net services that are vital in communities like these, where more than half of the children at some centers are experiencing homelessness.

"Despite uncertainty around how the proposed changes might impact our youngest learners, we were grateful to spend these two days with representatives Friedman and Gomez," said Drew Furedi, Ed.D., Para Los Niños president and chief executive officer. "Visitors witnessed first-hand how upholding evidence-based standards for our program results in educational success for the children who need it most. At Para Los Niños, Head Start isn't just high-quality early learning; it's a lifeline for Los Angeles' working parents already struggling with economic hardship and access to care for their families."

"We certainly welcome opportunities to reduce unnecessary administrative burden, but never at the expense of safety, quality or access," added Luis Bautista. "Our guiding light is always 'How do we improve outcomes for children and families?' and that is how we will assess each of the proposed changes."

The proposed rule, titled "Reducing Federal Burden for Head Start Programs," was published on August 7 and is available for review on the Federal Register website. Public comment will be accepted now until October 6, 2026. Additional resources are available from the National Head Start Association website.