Head Start Health and Safety Institute 2026
- Start: January 13, 2026 7:30 am
- End: January 14, 2026 4:30 pm
Is your Head Start or Early Head Start or Early Head Start program in compliance with current health and safety requirements? Make sure by registering today for this year’s Annual Head Start Health and Safety Institute in Charleston, South Carolina, on January 13-14, 2026.
The Annual Head Start Health and Safety Institute returns to historic Charleston for 2026 with an updated agenda explaining today’s evolving health, safety, facilities, and transportation requirements (and expectations). Health and safety requirements continue to change, including recent revisions to the Performance Standards, but following these important standards remains essential to having a successful Head Start or Early Head Start program. During this year’s Health and Safety Institute, you will learn about recent changes to the health and safety standards as well as changes to the monitoring system for 2026. In addition to learning about these changes, you will also receive a full overview of the current health and safety requirements. The conference will also feature sessions explaining how to conduct legally compliant background checks, handle workplace conflicts in healthy ways, manage both general and facilities risks, and satisfy the transportation standards. Make plans to join your fellow Head Start and Early Head Start professionals for this special event.
When you attend the Annual Head Start Health and Safety Institute, you will learn how to remain in compliance with Head Start and Early Head Start health and safety requirements while avoiding common problem areas. However, registration opportunities are limited. Secure your spot for this once-a-year training today. Register now for the Annual Head Start Health and Safety Institute in Charleston, South Carolina, on January 13-14, 2026.
TOPICS
We have expanded the Head Start Health and Safety Institute’s curriculum for 2026 with a focus on understanding and mitigating common health and safety risks. By attending this exclusive training, you will learn about current health and safety standards for Head Start and Early Head Start programs, including recent updates. You will also learn how to spot potential health, safety, facilities, and transportation red flags. Over the course of two full-days, we will explain the following topics:
- Head Start and Early Head Start health and safety requirements
- Recognizing and preventing potential child maltreatment
- Addressing mental wellness concerns for staff and participants
- Preparing for Head Start health and safety monitoring in 2026
- Conducting legally compliant background checks
- Adopting healthy approaches to workplace conflicts
- Managing facilities and program risks using Enterprise Risk Management
- Applying the Head Start and Early Head Start transportation standards
- Avoiding the most common health and safety problem areas
- Answers to frequently asked questions about health, safety, facilities, and transportation
These are just some of the topics that you will learn about during the 2026 edition of the Annual Head Start Health and Safety Institute. Our presenters will also answer your individual health and safety questions throughout the conference.
AGENDA
The Annual Head Start Health and Safety Institute will be held in Charleston, South Carolina, at the Charleston Marriott from January 13-14, 2026. Please note that the cancellation deadline for this event is December 12, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST. The planned agenda for each day is as follows:
Day One (Tuesday, January 13, 2026)
Complete your onsite check-in for the conference and enjoy a light breakfast. Conference check-in starts at 7:30 a.m. The first session of the day will start at 8:30 a.m.
Unfortunately, health and safety remain among the most common noncompliance and deficiency findings for Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Agencies need a thorough understanding of these important requirements. This session will explain today's requirements and provide an overview of health and safety standards. You will learn about the key elements of the Head Start Program Performance Standards as well as Caring for Our Children Basic. Real world examples will be used to illustrate the rules. After attending this session, will will be able to identify and outline current Head Start and Early Head Start health and safety standards.
Enjoy a morning coffee break between sessions.
Unfortunately, health and safety remain among the most common noncompliance and deficiency findings for Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Agencies need a thorough understanding of these important requirements. This session will explain today's requirements and provide an overview of health and safety standards. You will learn about the key elements of the Head Start Program Performance Standards as well as Caring for Our Children Basic. Real world examples will be used to illustrate the rules. After attending this session, will will be able to identify and outline current Head Start and Early Head Start health and safety standards.
Enjoy a ninety (90) minute break to sample the vibrant Charleston lunch scene. Note: Attendees are "on your own" for lunch.
The Head Start Program Performance Standards contain detailed requirements for employment background checks. However, the Performance Standards are not the only rules governing background checks. Although pre-employment screenings are intended to prevent liability for employers, improperly conducted screenings can become a source of liability. Join attorney Kate Weaver Patterson to learn the right way to conduct background checks, including considerations and compliance obligations beyond the Head Start standards. Following this session, you will be able to list the requirements for conducting legally compliant employment background checks.
Take a fifteen-minute break and have a light snack between our afternoon sessions.
Conflict is a part of life, including the workplace. However, conflict does not have to be unhealthy. In fact, healthy conflict can benefit the workplace by improving employee morale and avoiding serious legal issues. Join attorney and mediator Kate Weaver Patterson to learn how your agency can take a healthy and legally compliant approach to conflict that will also reduce stress and promote mental wellness. After participating in this workshop, you will be able to identify common areas of workplace conflict and list healthy approaches to addressing those conflicts.
The first day of the Annual Head Start Health and Safety Institute 2026 will adjourn at 4:30 p.m.
Complete your daily conference check-in while enjoying a light breakfast. Please note that if you checked in with the conference registration desk yesterday, you do not need to check in again today. Conference check-in starts at 7:30 a.m. The first session of the day starts at 8:30 a.m.
Today's session will start with a look at risk management led by risk management expert Melanie Lockwood Herman. The discipline of risk management helps individuals and teams cope with inevitable uncertainty. During this session, you will learn how to define ‘risk’ simply, narrow your focus to top risks, and avoid being distracted by a list of every possibility. This session will also explain several practical ways to shift gears from risk identification to risk action planning. After attending, you will be able to share risk management techniques and language with others on the teams you lead and support.
Enjoy a coffee break between the morning sessions.
Our look at risk management will continue with the second session of the day. During this session, risk management expert Melanie Lockwood Herman will turn her attention to facilities risks. The facilities your agency uses for office space and service delivery are often key to mission and program success. This workshop explores major facility-related risks and presents a practical approach to understanding and acting on those risks. After participating in this session, you will be able to identify facilities-related risks and outline ways to mitigate them.
Enjoy a ninety (90) minute break to sample the vibrant Charleston lunch scene. Note: Attendees are "on your own" for lunch.
Head Start and Early Head Start monitoring continues to evolve each year. However, health and safety remain major components and focus areas of the monitoring process. During this session, attorney Brian Tipton will discuss Head Start and Early Head Start program monitoring for Fiscal Year 2026. You will learn about changes to the monitoring protocols and common problem areas related to health and safety. The discussion will also include practical tips to help your agency better prepare for health and safety monitoring and avoid potential red flags. After attending this session, you will be able to list the most frequent health and safety findings and outline strategies to comply with the underlying requirements.
Take a fifteen-minute break and have a light snack between afternoon sessions.
The final session of the day will discuss the Head Start and Early Head Start transportation standards. By attending, you will learn about the transportation requirements found in the Head Start Program Performance Standards in Part 1303. The session will discuss allowable vehicles and vehicle operation, trip routing, and safety procedures. We will also discuss qualifications and training for bus monitors and drivers. After attending, you will be able to list the Head Start transportation standards.
The Annual Head Start Health and Safety Institute 2026 will adjourn at 4:30 p.m.
The 2026 edition of the Annual Head Start Health and Safety Institute will provide you with the necessary knowledge to meet today’s important health, safety, facilities, and transportation, requirements for Head Start and Early Head Start programs. You will also learn how to spot and avoid the most common compliance problem areas (i.e., health and safety “red flags”). After attending the training, you will be able to:
- Outline current Head Start and Early Head Start health and safety requirements
- Identify recent changes to the Head Start Program Performance Standards
- List compliance challenges related to health, safety, facilities, and transportation
- Identify elements of legally sound employee background checks
- Distinguish between health and unhealthy workplace conflict
- Define and describe how to apply the concept of Enterprise Risk Management
- Describe effective risk management strategies for facilities
- Outline the Head Start and Early Head Start transportation standards
- Describe the Fiscal Year 2026 Head Start health and safety monitoring process
AUDIENCE AND CPE CREDIT
All members of the Head Start and Early Head Start community, whether in governance, management, or front-line roles, will benefit from attending this year’s Annual Head Start Health and Safety Institute. The experience level for this training is overview. There are no educational requirements or other prerequisites for attendance, and no prior preparation is required. Participants may earn up to fourteen (14) hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit in the field of specialized knowledge in accordance with the rules of the Texas State Board of Professional Accountancy for completing the entire course.
SPEAKERS
Melanie Lockwood Herman, Esq., has served as Executive Director of the Nonprofit Risk Management Center since 1996 and has held senior management positions in the nonprofit sector since 1987. Melanie is the principal author of more than 20 books on various risk management topics; Melanie’s most recent book was published in Fall 2017: “World-Class Risk Management for Nonprofits.” She is an eleven-time member of The NonProfit Times “Power and Influence Top 50.” In one NPT announcement Melanie was described as “one of the most prolific writers and lecturers on the topic of nonprofit risk,” and “the architect of the risk plans of some of the nation’s largest’ nonprofits.”
Melanie earned a BA in Urban Affairs from American University (Washington, DC), and a JD from George Mason University School of Law (Arlington, VA). She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association and currently serves on three national nonprofit boards (American Foundation for the Blind, Camp Fire, and the National Human Services Assembly).
Kate Weaver Patterson, Esq., is an experienced litigator, non-profit executive, and mediator. She is licensed to practice law in South Carolina and New York. Currently, Kate splits her time between Greenville, South Carolina, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she currently lives with her husband and their three children. She works with consulting clients across the United Stated
Before launching KWP Consulting, Kate started the Second Chance Justice Collaborative in 2019, a program of national non-profit Root & Rebound, whose mission is to help people navigate reentry after imprisonment and mitigate the harms caused by mass incarceration. Her work with R&R was particularly informed by the racial disparities within the criminal legal system and the need to bring disparate groups together to make meaningful change.
Before moving into nonprofit work, Kate worked as a litigation associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in New York and then clerked for four federal judges around the country. Following her clerkships, she spent five years as a domestic violence, child abuse and sex crimes prosecutor in Greenville, South Carolina, handling hundreds of cases and multiple trials. As a prosecutor, Kate learned the importance of thorough investigation and thoughtful deliberation to bring fairness to all involved.
Kate grew up in Greenville, South Carolina. She received her Bachelor of Arts in History and French from Duke University and earned her Master’s Degree in International Affairs, with distinction, from the University of Hong Kong. She returned to Duke University School of Law, receiving her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude.
R. Brian Tipton, Esq., is a practicing attorney with more than two decades' worth of experience working with nonprofits, governmental units, and other grant-funded organizations across the United States. Currently, Brian is Managing Director of Tipton KPCL in metro Atlanta, Georgia, where he heads the firm's tax-exempt and grant-funded solutions practice. He is a summa cum laude graduate of the Louisiana State University and the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University. Brian regularly represents Head Start agencies and other grant-funded entities of all types in the areas of regulatory compliance, audits, funding source disputes, administrative appeals, and litigation. Brian also consults with organizations on governance, human resources, programmatic, and corporate matters, and develops and presents training programs for nonprofits and other grant-funded organizations.
The Head Start Health and Safety Institute 2026 will be held at the Charleston Marriott in Charleston, South Carolina. Rooms are available for special conference rates starting at just $172 per night (plus tax), which is less than the Federal per diem. These special conference rates are available for check-in as early as January 12, 2026, and for check-out as late as January 15, 2026, subject to hotel availability. Reservations can be made by calling the hotel directly at 1-843-723-3000. Please ask for the special group rate for the “Head Start Training Institute” to receive the discounted hotel rates. However, the easiest way to make your reservations is on-line by clicking here for the hotel reservations page. The hotel reservation cut-off date is December 12, 2025 (or until the block is full). Because of the small number of rooms available, we advise making your reservations as soon as possible.
Just click the “REGISTER” button to register for the Annual Head Start Health and Safety Institute. Please note that the cancellation deadline for the conference is 5:00 p.m. EST on December 12, 2025.