HB211 • 2026

Head start, etc.; Head Start State Collaboration Office to develop for endorsement a report, etc.

An Act to require the Head Start State Collaboration Office at the Department of Education to develop and recommend to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education for endorsement a report summarizing the state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth.

Education

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Gardner
Last action: 2026-04-13
Official status: Acts of Assembly Chapter
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Head start, etc.; Head Start State Collaboration Office to develop for endorsement a report, etc.

Head Start State Collaboration Office; state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth; report.

What This Bill Does

Head Start State Collaboration Office; state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth; report.
Requires the Head Start State Collaboration Office at the Department of Education, no later than December 1, 2026, to develop and recommend to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education for endorsement a report summarizing the state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth that is required to address several topics enumerated in the bill.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-04-13 Governor
Approved by Governor-Chapter 791 (effective 7/1/2026)
2026-04-13 Governor
Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0791)
2026-04-13 Governor
Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0791)
2026-03-10 House
Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026
2026-03-10 Governor
Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
2026-03-06 House
Signed by Speaker
2026-03-06 Senate
Signed by President
2026-03-06 House
Enrolled
2026-03-06 House
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB211ER)
2026-03-06 House
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB211)
2026-03-02 Senate
Read third time
2026-03-02 Senate
Passed Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-02-27 Senate
Rules suspended
2026-02-27 Senate
Passed by for the day
2026-02-27 Senate
Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-02-27 Senate
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
2026-02-26 Education and Health
Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N)
2026-02-19 Public Education
Assigned Education sub: Public Education
2026-02-09 Senate
Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
2026-02-09 Education and Health
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
2026-02-09 Education
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB211)
2026-02-06 House
Read third time and passed House (65-Y 32-N 0-A)
2026-02-05 House
Read second time
2026-02-05 House
committee substitute agreed to
2026-02-05 House
Engrossed by House - committee substitute
2026-02-04 House
Read first time
2026-02-02 Education
Reported from Education with substitute (16-Y 6-N)
2026-02-02 Education
Committee substitute printed 26105871D-H1
2026-01-28 Early Childhood and Innovation
House subcommittee offered
2026-01-28 Early Childhood and Innovation
Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 2-N)
2026-01-28 Early Childhood and Innovation
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB211)
2026-01-28 Early Childhood and Innovation
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB211)
2026-01-20 Early Childhood and Innovation
Assigned HED sub: Early Childhood and Innovation
2026-01-07 House
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103783D
2026-01-07 Education
Referred to Committee on Education

Official Summary Text

Head Start State Collaboration Office; state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth; report.
Requires the Head Start State Collaboration Office at the Department of Education, no later than December 1, 2026, to develop and recommend to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education for endorsement a report summarizing the state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth that is required to address several topics enumerated in the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

An Act to require the Head Start State Collaboration Office at the Department of Education to develop and recommend to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education for endorsement a report summarizing the state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1.
§ 1. It is the goal of the Commonwealth to maximize the availability of evidence-based Head Start and Early Head Start programs to eligible families in the Commonwealth. In furtherance of such goal, the Head Start State Collaboration Office at the Department of Education shall, no later than December 1, 2026, develop and recommend to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education for endorsement a report summarizing the state of Head Start and Early Head Start in the Commonwealth. Such report shall address:
1. Trends in funding, parent demand, enrollment, and costs per child from pre-COVID-19 pandemic to the present, including total annual federal funding and funded enrollment, a summary of change in scope requests submitted by grant recipients to the federal Office of Head Start, a summary of grant awards relinquished by recipient agencies, and the range of funded per-child costs by age and region and how such costs compare to per-child costs generated by the Department of Education's cost-of-quality or rebenchmarking models for children of equivalent ages;
2. Barriers to maximization of Head Start funding and slots in the Commonwealth, including regional variations in cost of living relative to income eligibility limits for Head Start eligible families; a summary of identified barriers for families impacting parental demand for Head Start services, including transportation, program hours of service, and alignment between need and availability at the local level; and a summary of identified operational challenges for Head Start grant recipients, including credential requirements, workforce turnover and shortages, facility and infrastructure needs, and operational and service delivery impacts;
3. Strengths and challenges in fiscal sustainability for Head Start grant recipients, including (i) an assessment of the extent to which recipients are maximizing all available funding sources to support comprehensive or wraparound services and (ii) recommendations to develop and implement a framework for grant recipients to assess and leverage existing funding streams in their regions;
4. Trends in performance, quality improvement, and impact, including growth and results on the Virginia Quality Birth to Five (VQB5) system established pursuant to §
22.1-289.05
of the Code of Virginia, federal monitoring and accountability results, and child growth and school readiness outcomes as measured by program assessment or statewide measures; and
5. The Commonwealth's and local grant recipients' readiness to respond to changes in the federal funding context, such as a change in overall available funding or a change in funding structure, and a plan to ensure continuity of care for Head Start families under such changes.