April 10, 2020 – MLICCI wrote the memo below to Mississippi’s Department of Human Sevices to urge them to enact policies to shore up the CCPP child care sector, not only to protect and stabilize it now during the COVID-19 pandemic but also to secure its future. We signed on with other organizations across the nation to urge Congress to address the immediate needs of child care providers and the families they serve.
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Child Care in Mississippi and Recommendations to Strengthen the Child Care Delivery System
The Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative (MLICCI) is monitoring policy and funding developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic response. Many child care providers across the state, particularly those participating in the state’s federally funded child care assistance program, the Child Care Payment Program (CCPP), serve parents working in low- to moderate-income occupations. These parents, mostly single mothers with young children, are now simultaneously the hardest hit by mandated closures and consequent lay-offs, yet, for those who remain employed, they are also the most essential for ensuring all Mississippians get the supplies and services they need.
Parents working in occupations in which wages are typically low such as grocery stores, retail chains, food service providers and health workers, are on the front-line of this national emergency and they have an immediate need for stable childcare assistance. They need the CCPP program to support their efforts to remain employed and provide essential services.
Single parents employed in these types of occupations need childcare, but many do not currently have a CCPP voucher. It is imperative that eligible parents’ access to CCPP assistance be streamlined and easy, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and during a period ofrecovery
Parents who have been laid off will need CCPP assistance to get back to work after shelter-in-place orders are lifted and labor markets begin to recover. A significant portion of parents who are laid off—despite promises that they will be re-hired—will likely have to find new employment. They will need Mississippi’s CCPP program to support their efforts to make this transition into new employment and to receive the training or education that may be required.
These families do not need the additional burden of losing their CCPP eligibility during this pandemic. Currently, there is no CCPP waiting list and funding is available for new clients. Additionally, Mississippi will receive $46 million in federal CARES Act stimulus funds in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and these funds will grant states more flexibility and discretion with eligibility requirements.
It is imperative that Mississippi take immediate steps to stabilize, maintain and strengthen the state’s childcare delivery system.
Representatives from the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) reported on a MLICCI webinar that more than 900 childcare centers across the state have closed due to COVID-19. While changes in childcare center closings and openings occur daily, this level of closure—without targeted mitigation—risks a serious erosion in the CCPP delivery system, which has a direct effect on parents’ ability to work. Childcare centers are providing an essential service and will need financial assistance to pay for immediate needs related to additional COVID-19-related requirements. They will also need funding to help sustain their child care centers to be available when employment levels begin increasing and re-employment services recommence. Parents will need policies that support their efforts to work, to access and retain CCPP and to recover from this global crisis.
What Child Care Providers are Reporting
“It’s a risk we are going to have to take.”
MLICCI has been conducting interviews with child care providers who participate in MLICCI’s Child Care Leadership Team (CCLT) about how COVID-19 has affected their centers and the families they serve. These interviews reveal the deep commitment that child care providers haveto the families and communities they serve.
The effects that child care centers have experienced are extensive. While many are closed due to an inability to retain staff, a drop in enrollment or the inability to obtain equipment and supplies they need to operate, many centers remain open to continue serving children of essential workers and to provide needed services to children who rely on their care and their center’s resources. While these centers are open, they are operating with much fewer staff. MLICCI has learned that many closed centers continue to provide some services to the children and families they enroll, despite a very uncertain economic future.
Many of the child care centers MLICCI has interviewed reported closing mid- to late March 2020. Most that were closed indicated they had plans to re-open in late April or early May 2020, but these decisions are contingent on many factors—some, such as shelter-in-place orders andlabor market conditions—are outside of the center’s control.Some centers that closed initially have now re-opened. Some either stayed open or closed only for a short period initially, but all centers that have remained open reported serving far fewer children. For instance, one center reported that attendance dropped from 23 to 5 per day, onaverage. Overall, centers that remained open reported a drop in the number of children attending and, in some cases, the reported drop was significant and represented up to 75% of enrollment.
Several centers indicated that they expected children not attending to remain enrolled, but centers are still losing tuition payments for children who are not being served by CCPP and now not attending. MLICCI’s previous survey research has shown that average voucher density among CCPP providers is about 30% (voucher density is the percentage of enrolled children receiving a CCPP voucher).
MDHS’s decision to reimburse centers for enrollment rather than attendance during the months of March and April 2020 for children served by the CCPP will help stabilize centers’ revenue, but MDHS has the latitude to extend this policy for a longer period.For the centers that remain open, asked about uncertainty regarding financial outlooks and health concerns, one interviewee stated, “It’s a risk we are going to have to take.”
Providers that have closed indicated to MLICCI that there is still demand for their centers to be open and, while many are eager to re-open, they are mired by uncertainty over health and safety concerns, declines in enrollment and by the effect of a long-term closure on their financial solvency.
As one provider stated, “If I don’t have the stimulus money by April 26, I will have to close down for good. I’m having a hard time paying the mortgage on my center, insurance, childcare van note. This has affected my staff, their families and our livelihood. Don’t know the future of the center’s reopening to be around after all of this is over.”
Reasons Centers Have Closed
- Decline in attendance
- Lack of necessary equipment, such as no-touch thermometers, cleaning supplies, disinfectants, food and other daily essentials (centers are being advised that no-touch thermometers are necessary to screen children for fever and to avoid exposure)
- Inability to comply with staffing needed for lower group and classroom size guidelines to maintain “social distancing” orders of groups not exceeding 10
- A lack of clarity and ability to implement health and safety protocols related to COVID-19 mitigation
- School closures
- Sporadic openings and closings due to inability to pay staff – Inability to stay afloat
- Inability to pay staff without help
Problems for Centers That Are Still Operating
- Parents working at fast food, poultry, grocery stores are all essential and need child care, some do not have a CCPP voucher
- Still being required to collect parent copayment fees
- Attendance is down by as much as 50% to 75% in some centers
- Logistical issues with enforcing social distancing practices with drop-off and pick-up and checking children’s temperatures before sign-in
- Losing employees for various reasons
- Parents want to see measures taken to implement additional practices for cleanliness and social distancing
- Some centers are not able to enroll new children due to staffing and supply issues
What Parents Say They Need Right Now
- Basic household necessities – child care providers, both those currently closed and those that remain open, are providing lunch and snack for children not currently attending and some centers reported delivering this food to children’s homes
- Educational assistance for children, Internet Access – Children that receive after-school care need help with homework and lack internet access at home. Some child care centers continue to provide children these services and are concerned about how this is going to affect the child’s education because not all children have computers at their disposal, especially in rural areas
- Thermometers
- Transportation
- Assistance with monthly expenses and not getting behind on bills
What Centers Need Right Now
- Clarity about what happens if shelter-in-place orders are extended (Will centers continue to get reimbursed for CCPP children based on enrollment beyond the month of April? Will other losses be covered beyond what federal SBA or stimulus funds can cover?)
- Clarity about staff employment options – Providers reported mixed results regarding staff unemployment, some have gotten unemployment benefits and others haven’t and providers need clarity about how staff can access these benefits and how the center can receive wage subsidies to retain their staff during the pandemic
- Centers reported needing no-touch thermometers, disinfectants, bleach, food, gloves, disposable plates, bowls, cups, forks, spoons, paper towels and other supplies that are essential for operation and now also difficult to obtain in some areas due to supply-chain shortages
- Funding in the form of grants to keep businesses afloat during the pandemic
Policy Recommendations
Take Immediate Measures to Stabilize the Child Care Delivery System
- While MDHS’s decision to reimburse centers based on enrollment rather than attendance for the months of March and April 2020 will help providers, MLICCI encourages MDHS to extend this CCPP policy to allow reimbursements for children served by CCPP based on enrollment in the center rather than attendance in order to ensure parents have the child care they need and that centers are paid for periods of closure due to COVID-19 and during a period of recovery following the global pandemic, as allowed in Section 98.45(l)(2)(i) of the CCDBG Act Final Rule. While this policy change may require a State Plan amendment, it can be implemented immediately because it complies with federal requirements.
- Waive family co-pays and relax other requirements by amending the State Plan to identify families affected by COVID-19 as eligible to receive “protective services” and emergency CCPP. This will allow the state agency to have discretion to waive the work/education requirement, the family co-payment and income eligibility (in accordance with 45 CFR 98.45(k)(4)) and on a case by case basis in accordance with 45 CFR 98.20(a)(3)(ii)(A).). While this policy change may require a State Plan amendment, it can be implemented immediately because it complies with federal requirements. MDHS has additional options to identify families eligible for waived copayment fees that comply with federal requirements, such as expanding “Other Criteria” in Section 3.4.4 of the 2019-2021 CCDF State Plan.
- Suspend cooperation with Child Support Enforcement in CCPP as a mandatory eligibility requirement – Federal law does not require cooperation with CSE in CCPP and state law gives MDHS discretion to enforce this policy in CCPP. MLICCI recommends suspending this requirement to ease administrative burden and to reduce burdens on single parents applying for CCPP.
- Target CARES Act funding spent on child care direct services to individuals who are at or below 85% of state median income. While CARES Act funding allows states to disregard income eligibility, states are also allowed to use CARES Act funds for centers and parents who are not in the CCPP system. MLICCI recommends targeting these direct services to low- to moderate-income parents who are income-eligible for CCPP.
- Waive termination of CCPP eligibility based on child absences due to COVID-19 circumstances. MLICCI recommends treating every absence beginning March 1, 2020 as due to COVID-19 and re-visit the policy upon changes in emergency status.
- Suspend annual CCPP re-determinations to a date to be determined by a labor market analysis and the status of the national emergency.
- Transfer 30% of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant to CCDF.
- Use CCDF quality funds to pay child care programs for lost co-payments and supply needs.
- Treat all interruptions in work/education as of March 1 as temporary even if such interruptions extend beyond 3 months.
- Modify the State Plan to extend the amount of time CCPP parents are allowed to be out of work and retain their CCPP eligibility from 90 days to a date to be determined by a labor market analysis and the status of the national emergency.
- Suspend CCPP Priority Populations to expedite child care services.
- Use a portion of CARES Act funding to create a grant program targeted to CCPP providers to apply for funding that is equivalent to 6 – 12 months of average revenue.
Conclusion
MLICCI’s initial research reveals only a snapshot of what is overwhelming evidence showing a significant negative financial impact on the child care sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Child care centers are closed, losing staff, losing revenue; some are at serious risk of permanently closing if prolonged COVID-19- related closures occur or enrollments decline. Enabling CCPP to be robust and serve as many as possible will help preserve child care centers as critical support systems for parents who will have to start putting the pieces back together.
Mississippi’s child care sector is fragile and targeted financial support is needed for centers and the child care workforce. While funds through federal stimulus packages will help some providers and parents, targeting these funds to the existing CCPP universe and making investments beyond federal assistance will be necessary to stabilize this critical sector to ensure that it remains afloat while many parents are unable to work and many children are in need of the resources centers provide.