By Hannah Matthews, April 2017

Updated June 2026 by Mikayla Slaydon 

One in four children under age six has at least one foreign-born parent, and 94 percent of these children are U.S. citizens., While most of these children have parents with some form of lawful status, many live with at least one undocumented parent or household member. Consequently, families may be hesitant to access public benefits and programs for which they are legally eligible out of fear or confusion regarding eligibility rules. The federal government establishes immigrant eligibility policies for federal programs. This fact sheet details immigrant eligibility for early childhood programs, specifically child care subsidies and Head Start, as they exist under current federal law and guidance.

Read the fact sheet here.

Although there are ongoing threats to eligibility for some of the programs discussed in this fact sheet, the purpose of this piece is to provide the current status of eligibility for all programs. For more context on current eligibility threats, please visit “Understanding Immigrant Eligibility for Child Care and Early Education Programs.”