PRESS RELEASE
"Investing in Futures:
 The Business of Child Care"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 23, 2004

Contacts:
Carol Burnett
(228) 669-4827
cburnett@mschildcare.org

Ed Sivak
(601) 944-1100
esivak@ecd.org

New Study Reveals that State's
Economic Future May Depend on Child Care

Report Shows that Investing in Child Care
Yields Dramatic Benefits to Mississippi's Economy

Today the Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative and a diverse group of business people, religious leaders, child care advocates, and bi-partisan political representatives joined together for a press conference to announce the release of a new report entitled "Investing in Futures: The Business of Child Care."

According to the report, the child care industry plays a crucial and previously underestimated role in promoting job creation and economic development. "The benefits of investing in childcare are clear and compelling. This is not a speculative investment, like commodities futures. It's a sure thing, and one that also addresses a vital need for working families," says Carol Burnett, Executive Director of MLICCI.

Among other findings, "Investing in Futures" indicates that the net impact of increased state funding for child care would be approximately six dollars for every dollar invested. Half of that return on investment would come from newly generated economic activity, and half from additional grants that Mississippi currently foregoes by not fully matching available federal funds.

"Mississippi has forfeited federal money from the Child Care and Development Fund because we didn't appropriate the full amount required. For every dollar that we fail to match, we will lose $3.14 in federal matching funds," says Burnett, "and with thousands of eligible children on the waiting list for child care certificates, we can't afford to miss out on that money."

The new report also confirms what many business owners have been learning, according to Ed Sivak of the Economic Corporation of the Delta (ECD), a community development financial institution that invests in Delta firms and trains entrepreneurs. "Child care turns out to be valuable not only to the families who depend on it, but to the employer's bottom line, as well," says Sivak.

"Since the opening of its Collins Child Care Center, Sanderson Farms has enjoyed the benefits of improved employee attendance and productivity. Furthermore, the availability of affordable, quality child care has made Sanderson Farms more effective in recruiting and retaining employees in Collins. The most satisfying benefits of the center, however, have not been economic. They are the positive differences the employees of the center have made on the young people of Collins," said Brian Romano, Director of Administration at Sanderson Farms.

"Child care creates jobs, enables people to work, and generated more than $23 million in tax revenue for the state in 1999," says Burnett. "And by every measure, the impact of child care on our state's economy and future prospects is growing."

Gov. Barbour has identified job creation and workforce development as priorities for his administration. "Investing in Futures" demonstrates that child care is important for the success of both priorities. Child care allows parents of young children to enter the workforce and stay there. Child care reduces employee absenteeism and turnover; thus it increases productivity and lowers employers' costs.

Specifically, speakers urged the Mississippi Legislature to allocate $4 million more dollars in matching funds in the Child Care and Development Fund, a federal block grant that assists low wage workers in paying for child care. These matching funds are necessary in order to draw down over $15 million in federal funds that are available to Mississippi families for child care. Secondly, speakers urged the Mississippi Department of Human Services to continue transferring TANF funds into CCDF so that parents who leave welfare for work can afford to remain employed and not be forced by unaffordable child care costs to return to welfare rolls. Thirdly, speakers urged Mississippi's Congressional delegation to support current proposals in Congress to increase funding levels in the Child Care and Development Fund so that Mississippi will have more CCDF funds for families.

Over 12,000 Mississippi children are on the waiting list for CCDF child care. There is a huge need for more child care, and IHL reports that many more parents would enter the workforce if child care were affordable and available. Increases in CCDF would benefit everyone: child care improves school readiness in children, it allows parents to work, and it lowers costs for employers.

Child care is a win for everyone, and it is a sound investment of public funds.

Speakers at the press conference included:

Peggy Howard of the MS Economic Council
Robin Robinson of Sanderson Farms
Ed Sivak, Enterprise Corporation of the Delta
Frank Leach, President, Jackson County Board of Supervisors
Claiborne Barksdale of the Barksdale Reading Institute
Dr. Bettye Ward Fletcher, President, Mississippi Commission on Status of Women
Bishop Kenneth Carder, United Methodist Church
Oleta Fitzgerald, Children's Defense Fund

For more information, contact:

Carol Burnett
MS Low Income Child Care Initiative
(228) 669-4827

Ed Sivak
Enterprise Corporation of the Delta
(228) 944-1100

Oleta Fitzgerald
Children's Defense Fund
(601) 355-1213

Claiborne Barksdale
Barksdale Reading Institute
(662) 236-5600

Dr. Bettye Ward Fletcher
President, MS Commission on Status of Women
(601) 829-3864

Frank Leach
President, Jackson County Board of Supervisors
(228) 769-3457

The Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative works to improve child care in Mississippi for poor children and families through training, research and publications on effective practices, management, and public policy.

The report can be viewed as a PDF file. For a hard copy, contact MLICCI at (228) 374-2218 or e-mail info@mschildcare.org