COVID-19 Mitigation Policy Requirement in Head Start Programs; Recission

Document 2025-23452 is a Final Rule published by the Department of Health and Human Services in the Federal Register on December 19, 2025, with an effective date of February 17, 2026. This direct final rule (DFR) removes the requirement that Head Start programs have a COVID-19 mitigation policy. This requirement was included in the final rule titled "Mitigating the Spread of COVID-19 in Head Start Programs," which ACF published on January 6, 2023. Specifically, this rescission removes the requirement from the Head Start Program Performance Standards (Performance Standards) that Head Start programs have a COVID-19 mitigation policy developed in consultation with their Health and Mental Health Services Advisory Committee (HMHSAC), formerly the Health Services Advisory Committee (HSAC). This DFR meets the deregulatory requirements of Executive Order 14192, Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation, and is aligned with Executive Order 14148, Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions. View the original at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/19/2025-23452/covid-19-mitigation-policy-requirement-in-head-start-programs-recission.

No. Document 2025-23452 is not classified as economically significant under Executive Order 12866. Economically significant rules require OIRA review and are estimated to have impacts of $100 million or more per year.