Albina Head Start sues federal agency after program deemed 'deficient'

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A Portland preschool program for low-income students says they're at risk of losing federal funding after their program was wrongfully deemed "deficient" by a federal agency.

Albina Head Start -- a Portland-based early childhood education program -- filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, claiming the agency incorrectly interpreted a law -- forcing the program to recompete for a federal grant, as first reported by The Oregonian.

According to attorneys for AHS, the rule interpretation threatens the program’s survival and other programs across the country.

Albina Head Start attorneys argue that DHS improperly interpreted its own regulations and definition of “deficiency” under the federal Head Start Act by labeling AHS as “deficient” after an incident in 2023 when a teacher assistant threw a toy brick at a student's leg.

After reviewing the incident, AHS said the employee was fired three hours later and reported the case to state authorities, the student's parent, and HHS within 24 hours.

The lawsuit argues that HHS’ current interpretation of “deficiency” causes institutions like AHS to recompete for grant funding.

Ronald D. Herndon, AHS director and former board chair of the National Head Start Association said, “I’ve dedicated my life to Head Start and the low-income children it’s intended to serve. The Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to adopt an interpretation of its own rules that is contrary to law is one of the biggest wrong turns I’ve ever witnessed in the program’s history. Albina Head Start is now fighting for survival, and other programs are too.”

Edward T. Waters, one of AHS’ attorneys, added “We’re optimistic that by raising this issue, the Department of Health and Human Services will recognize that its current policy interpretations not only contradict the department’s own rules, but undermine the mission of the entire Head Start Program.”

“Congress expressly intended to prevent this circumstance when it enacted a statutory definition of 'deficiency' as part of the 2007 reauthorization of the federal Head Start Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. §§ 9831-9852c, because Congress found that HHS’s findings of 'deficiency' were 'seriously flawed,' and that ‘recompetition of high quality programs could have the unintended effect of undermining program quality and decreasing the efficiency of Head Start expenditures,’” AHS attorneys argued in a press release.

Citing HHS, Albina Head Start attorneys said about half of the federal agency’s “deficiency” findings are from isolated incidents rather than systemic failures of their education programs.

“The clock is ticking because the more time that single, isolated employee incidents are treated like systemic problems, more programs will wrongfully lose funding and low-income children will lose the opportunity for a quality early-childhood education. We can’t let that happen. Let’s fix this,” Herndon said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.