More than 80-percent of child care providers in Mississippi say unnecessary red tape imposed by DHS obstructs parents’ access to the state’s Child Care Payment Program (CCPP). According to a new report released today from Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative (MLICCI), these barriers are keeping parents from entering and staying in the workforce.
MLICCI conducted this survey in an effort to find out what was happening with the state’s CCPP, hearing back from 250 child care providers from across the state. CCPP is funded by a federal block grant, the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF), which provides assistance to parents earning up to 85-percent of the state median income. DHS is charged with administering the program to help, but instead obstructs parents from getting this very help they need.
The most commonly cited barrier is DHS’ mandate that single parents comply with child support enforcement before they can qualify for child care. This is not federally mandated. In fact, what is federally recommended is that states build their CCPP systems to align with other early childhood programs. This child support requirement prohibits alignment with Head Start and Pre-K, neither of which require child support.
Other barriers cited include DHS failing to act promptly on applications, claiming documents were not received despite evidence they were, DHS failing to answer the phone, DHS failing to comply with its own policies, DHS case workers refusing to assist, etc. The survey also found that even when parents are able to get onto the CCPP program, DHS frequently kicks them off during annual redetermination of eligibility due to red tape.
DHS claims there is no waiting list, yet survey results show that 56-percent of providers report having a waiting list, and of those on the waiting list 65-percent are eligible for CCDF child care assistance.
“Every time we hear from DHS about the Child Care Payment Program, we are told that the program is great, the child support requirement is no big issue, and anyone who needs the assistance can get it. The reality is that the system is riddled with barriers,” said Carol Burnett, executive director of MLICCI. “DHS procedures are a minefield of obstacles functioning as a game of whack-a-mole to keep parents from getting the child care assistance they need so that they can work.”
“Every single one of these barriers is state created. They are not federally mandated,” said Matt Williams, MLICCI Director of Research. “DHS could fix these issues right now if they wanted to. It really is at the seat of DHS to eliminate red tape so that Mississippi parents can get the affordable child care they need in order to work.”
Other key findings:
- Nearly 80% of providers surveyed serve parents who are eligible, yet unable to get approved for CCPP.
- 62% of providers surveyed indicate that the CCPP application process is so difficult it prevents parents from getting CCPP.
- 83% of providers reported serving parents that are deterred from applying to CCPP due to child support.
- 74% of providers surveyed said they have lost parents during the redetermination process.
- 60% of providers have an average of 15 parents on the waiting list for CCPP, a total of 1,791 of the survey respondent group. Extrapolating to the CCPP system, this number would be an estimated 13,000 children statewide.
In addition, providers almost unanimously agree (92-percent) that DHS should use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to serve more children. DHS officials assert sustainability as the key cause for not distributing ARPA funds. MLICCI recommends DHS help those parents who need assistance now.
“If DHS were concerned about sustainability, then DHS would remove the barriers that kick parents off CCPP at redetermination of eligibility to make sure those parents already on the program have their child care assistance sustained,” added Burnett.
The survey was conducted during the month of August 2021 with a sample size of 877.
Find the full report here https://bit.ly/MLICCISurveyReportDHSRedTapeSept21.