June 2, 2021- Biloxi, MS – More than 170 child care centers from across the state have developed a list of recommendations for use of federal COVID child care funds and submitted them to the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) Early Childhood Care and Development. The recommendations also provide input on the 2022-2024 Child Care Development Fund (CCDF). The Mississippi Low Income Childcare Initiative (MLICCI) held several virtual convening sessions with the child care centers and facilitated the recommendations memo ahead of the June 8th MDHS virtual hearing on the CCDF Plan.
Mississippi has already received more than $130 million in COVID relief funds and is expected to receive another $519 million in additional funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). These funds provide an unprecedented opportunity to serve more children and families who are eligible to participate in the Child Care Payment Program (CCPP).
“MLICCI represents a statewide network of centers,” says Executive Director Carol Burnett. “Our staff worked diligently to contact each and every center to ensure we reported the feedback they wanted to share. We received a lot of feedback from centers that are strong voices on these issues. Our memo document gives vital input on how the CCDF and CCPP should operate as well as the kind of support centers need to serve children and families.”
Some of the highlights of the memo include:
- Increase the number of CCPP-eligible children served by CCPP to an additional $35,000 children with ARPA funds.
- Eliminate the child support requirement as a way to ease access to CCPP-eligible parents.
- Help child care centers recruit, hire, and retain qualified staff with higher wages, health insurance, and training.
For the full list of recommendations as well as the child care centers that signed on, click here: MDHS CCDF input from child care centers.
Please also note that MDHS will hold a virtual public hearing on the completed draft of the CCDF State Plan for 2022-2024 on June 8, 2021 at 11 a.m.
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