The Office of Head Start (OHS), the federal program within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that provides preschool and childcare services to low-income families, announced today that it will soon be dropping its universal masking rule for its grant recipients.
In a statement provided to The Hill, an HHS spokesperson said, “Today, OHS notified programs that, in the near future, it intends to publish a final rule that will formally remove the requirement for universal masking in Head Start programs for all individuals ages 2 and older, which will align Head Start program masking requirements more closely with the updated CDC guidance.”
A specific date was not provided on when the mask mandate for Head Start programs would formally be dropped. The finalized rule is expected to be issued soon, some time in late September or early October, according to an HHS representative.
This decision comes about a month after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued more lenient COVID-19 guidance regarding several mitigation methods such as masking and quarantining.
However, children and teachers at Head Start programs have still been required to adhere to mandatory mask-wearing. This is despite the updated CDC guidance that stated masks should mainly be considered in high-risk areas or for students who are immunocompromised.
OHS, HHS and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) issued an interim rule last November for the Head Start program requiring universal masking for everyone two years of age and older as well as COVID-19 vaccinations for staff members and weekly testing for those who are exempted from being immunized.
The HHS spokesperson noted in their statement that compliance with this mask requirement has not been monitored for since February of this year, when the CDC issued new recommendations based on community COVID-19 levels. The spokesperson said OHS plans to continue not monitoring for compliance in upcoming evaluation visits.
This announcement comes just a week after The New York Times reported that the continued mask mandate at Head Start programs was making parents reluctant to send their children to these centers.
In their communication to Head Start grantees, OHS and ACF encouraged centers to “continue using a combination of tools to reduce COVID-19 risks,” pointing to the more recent CDC guidance.
In the Times report, HHS said in a statement that updating these rules was “a lengthy process.” An HHS representative told The Hill that OHS was in the final stages of this process when the Times reached out for comment.
