Jane Boykin

The content of Child Care: Issues and Answers is the work of the author, Jane Boykin. Verification of current state policy and program data was obtained from the Office for Children and Youth (OCY), Mississippi Department of Human Services. All opinions are those of the author and do not represent any other individual, agency, or organization.

Prior to the passage of the Family Support Act of 1988, the only dollars available to support child care for low-income families in Mississippi were a portion of the funds available to the state under the Social Service Block Grant. The national interest in welfare reform fueled an increasing understanding of the role child care plays in a family's ability to establish and maintain self-sufficiency. As a result, Congress has made additional federal child care dollars available to states over the past decade. Mississippi's share of funds under the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is estimated at $38,295,144 for federal fiscal year (FFY) 2000 beginning October 1, 1999.

States with existing state-funded child care programs have been able to minimize the impact of the changing federal commitment by using available federal funds to expand state effort. Mississippi, with no state-funded child care program to buffer the impact, has made continued adjustments in priorities and policies to accommodate the changes made at the national level.

As a result, there are frequent misunderstandings about the use of federal child care dollars in the state. Child Care: Issues and Answers, the first of three issue briefs, has been written to provide a baseline for informed discussion on the child care needs of Mississippi families, particularly those seeking to establish and maintain self-sufficiency.

BUDGET

1. How are Mississippi's CCDF funds spent?
Mississippi, in keeping with the federal guidelines, spends 90% on child care subsidy, 5% on quality improvement activities, and 5% on administrative costs including the cost of subsidy distribution through regional child care management contractors.

2. Who receives the subsidy dollars?
Parents meeting eligibility requirements receive the largest portion of the available subsidy-approximately 96% of the total subsidy dollars available-in the form of vouchers known as child care certificates.

3. Does the state offer contracts to child care providers in addition to issuing certificates?
Yes. However, the contracts are directed toward expanding the child care choices available to parents. Currently, contracts are used to promote increased local investment in child care through joint ventures with community-based organizations under the state's Child Care Partnership Grant Program.

4. Can the level of funding for contracts increase?
Certainly. However, contracts bring with them a whole set of issues and concerns. First of all, federal regulations require that any parent receiving service under a contract also be offered a certificate should the parent prefer to use another provider. Thus, a state offering contracts must have a reserve of funds available for this purpose.

Secondly, programs that serve parents at the higher end of the income scale do not spend all of the money in their contracts. The money, however, is obligated and not available for other use until the end of the contract. Lastly, funds cannot be contracted beyond the period allowed by federal policy and are not a reliable base of support.

5. Does the state spend all available child care dollars?
The state obligates all available child care dollars during the period allowed by the federal government. If a contractor does not use all funds available under a contract and the period for allowable use passes, the money can no longer be spent and, according to federal rule, must be returned to the federal government.

6. Does Mississippi transfer any Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funds to CCDF?
TANF funds have been made available to CCDF but no funds have been finally transferred to date.

CERTIFICATES

7. How are child care certificates used?
Parents use the certificates to purchase child care from the provider of their choice.

8. Do parents pay additional fees?
Parents on TANF, as public assistance or welfare is now known, do not pay under either the certificate or contract program. Others share the cost of child care on a sliding fee scale based on family size and income-fees as low as $10 per month in some cases.

9. Is the value of the certificate sufficient to cover the cost of child care?
The certificate value, as well as the contracted slot value, is based on state market rates according to the type of care selected by the parent.

10. Does that mean parents using certificates cannot afford to send their children to certain child care programs?
Parents on certificates, like all parents in the child care market, may find certain programs charge more than they have to spend on child care. Regulations, however, do not prohibit a parent from choosing a more expensive program and paying the additional cost. The state's market rate ensures access to 75% of all licensed centers.

11. Do all licensed centers accept child care certificates?
No. The state makes participation in the certificate program available to all licensed centers. Some decline to participate.

12. Why is it necessary to establish priority population for the certificate program?
Sound fiscal management requires establishing priorities to ensure child care is available first to families with greatest financial need, such as families moving off TANF. As funds are available, families at higher income levels, up to the allowable limit, are then able to receive certificates.

REIMBURSEMENT

13. Does the state pay certain providers more than others?
Yes, the state has elected to use a three-tier reimbursement scale to encourage quality improvement in the child care market.

14. What programs are paid at the highest rate, Tier I?
Child care programs with a director or other staff member who have completed the OCY Child Care Director's Credential training, a state-supported 135-hour course, are reimbursed at the highest level. Additionally, this higher rate is also paid to programs that meet or exceed the state's minimum standards for operating a child care facility. Operation at this level must be documented by accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

15. Can family child care, care in the home of the provider, be paid at Tier I rates?
Yes. However, the provider must either meet the voluntary registration requirements of the Department of Health or complete the OCY Director's Child Care Credential training course.

16. What programs are paid at the next level, Tier II?
Licensed programs meeting only the state's minimum standards, licensed exempt programs such as extended school day services, and home-based providers regulated by the Bureau of Child Nutrition, Mississippi Department of Education, are reimbursed at the next level.

17. What is the difference between Tier I and Tier II reimbursement?
Tier I programs are reimbursed at a 10% higher rate than Tier II programs.

18. Is there another level?
Yes. Tier III reimbursement is the lowest level of reimbursement-one-half of the Tier II rate.

19. What programs are paid at this level?
No program is paid at this level. Tier III providers are individuals selected by the parents. In some cases, the provider is a friend or neighbor. Individuals, however, can also use their child care certificate to pay a relative as a caregiver.

20. Do Tier III providers make minimum wage?
Tier III providers, like all child care providers, may choose to meet their income needs by keeping more than one child. A Tier I provider, for example, also would not make minimum wage keeping only one child.

21. Can a Tier III provider ever move to a higher level of reimbursement?
Yes. Although individuals reimbursed at Tier III are not required to be licensed or regulated, they can voluntarily meet the program requirements of the child nutrition program and be paid at a higher level.

22. Does Mississippi require Tier III providers to meet minimum health and safety standards?
Tier III providers are required to sign the state's Basic Health, Safety, and Nutrition Guidelines form and certify they will meet the requirements; however, their compliance is not verified by any agency, only the parent.

CHILDREN SERVED

23. How many children are served by CCDF funds?
In the most recent year data are available, almost 37,000 children were served by CCDF funds last year. Of this number, over 7,000 additional children were added through the summer slot program.

24. Is this number 10% of the eligible population?
No. The number of children served is near 10% of the estimated number of children with qualifying family incomes, but an even larger percentage of the eligible population.

25. Isn't income the criteria for eligibility?
No. Income is only one of the criteria. Need for child care is also a criterion. Not all of the income eligible have a need for child care. In some cases, the family elects to sacrifice income for one parent to remain home with the children. Others prefer to share child care responsibility by working alternating shifts or relying on extended family. Still others work only part-time and coordinate work schedules with the school calendar.

26. But don't more Mississippi families need help with child care expenses?
No doubt they do, and not just those with a need for child care who also meet the CCDF income guidelines. Although the state has chosen the more generous option of setting income limits based on the state median income, there are many working families with incomes above the federally allowed level.

Need is not a fixed quantity. A family's child care need frequently changes, particularly as children grow older, making it difficult to accurately project the level of need in the state. For example, there is evidence that suggests a large number of individuals would change their current child care situation if care was available at or near their work site. Yet, in the absence of this option, these families do not indicate a need for child care.

LICENSED CENTERS

27. How many parents choose licensed child care programs?
Parents are choosing to use approximately 59% of the child care certificates in licensed child care programs.

28. Doesn't this mean the remaining 41% are not having a quality child care experience?
No. Both poor quality and high quality can be found in all forms of child care. Enrolling a child in a licensed center does not guarantee a quality experience.

29. Why not? After all, the center meets state standards.
State standards only address minimum health and safety requirements.

30. Has the certificate program hurt licensed child care providers?
No. The program has not hurt child care providers. Parental choice may have resulted in certain programs having financial problems, but the certificate program has actually increased the number of licensed child care providers serving low-income children. Currently, over 800 licensed child care providers are serving low-income children through the certificate program. During the time only SSBG contracted centers provided child care service, approximately 60 centers received child care subsidy.

31. Weren't almost all child care funds used in licensed centers until 1993?
Licensed centers were the primary recipient of early funds due to delays caused by revisions to the state plan that took place over the spring and summer months of 1992. The delay then created a need for the state to contract 1991 funds at the same time it was obligating 1992 dollars-several months before the certificate program was in place. Once parents had certificates and could choose the child care that best met their need, the use of licensed centers then reflected parental choice.

32. Shouldn't the state be encouraging parents to select licensed centers?
Some may think so. Others believe the role of the state is to support parental choice by encouraging quality in all forms of child care. However, parental choice is mandated by federal law.

33. But what about all the research on early brain development? Don't we want all children to have a quality early childhood experience?
Of course, but a child's participation in a program does not ensure a quality early childhood experience. The research on early brain development supports the benefit children receive from a stimulating, nurturing environment. The picture is much larger than any single program or service.

QUALITY

34. Isn't the state supposed to spend a portion of the child care funds on quality improvement?
Yes. A state must spend at least 4% of available CCDF funds on quality improvement.

35. How does Mississippi spend its quality improvement funds?
The largest single investment in quality improvement is the $1,000,000 given to the Mississippi State Department of Health to increase the number of staff in the Bureau of Child Care Licensing. Other funds are spent on providing equipment and supplies to child care providers, provider training, and consumer education.

36. Isn't the state required to use CCDF funds to support child care licensing?
No, but the use of funds for licensing activities is among the allowable quality improvements.

37. Does the training the state offers really improve the quality of child care?
A survey of individuals who have completed the OCY Director's Child Care Credential training shows significant quality improvement. Some of the reported improvements include:

86% have added more language development activities
91% now include learning centers
94% have added more hands-on learning opportunities
88% have increased parental involvement opportunities
99% have improved understanding of financial management
90% have added age-appropriate books for toddlers

Last year, staff from over 375 licensed centers received training at no cost when the OCY mobile training unit came to their community.

38. Shouldn't the state spend money to improve the wages of child care workers?
Although the state does not directly fund salary supplements, the money providers receive from the certificate program can be used to increase the salary of child care workers. For example, a provider could commit the additional revenue derived from qualifying as a Tier I provider to salary enhancement.

RURAL NEED

39. What about rural areas without licensed providers?
All counties have a licensed child care program, although in some cases a county may have only one facility.

40. How can that be when there are so many low-income children in the state?
The presence of large numbers of low-income children does not mean there is a market need for a licensed child care facility. Additionally, many of the children are school-age and no longer need full-day, full-year child care.

41. Still, shouldn't there be a need for licensed child care in a rural area?
The term rural means sparsely populated. For a licensed facility to be viable, there must be enough children within reasonable proximity who need care during the same hours-the rule of supply and demand that applies to any business, rural or otherwise.

GAPS IN CHILD CARE SERVICES

42. What kinds of child care are most difficult for parents to find?
Parents have the most difficulty finding care for infants and school-age children. If the parent works a non-traditional workday or work week, they will have difficulty finding care regardless of the age of the child.

43. Why such a shortage of school-age care?
A facility can only safely house a certain number of children-and few providers can sacrifice the income from full-day fees for the reduced income from part-time care.

44. Why is infant care so difficult to find?
Good infant care requires two to three times the staff required for older pre-school age children and that costs money. Parent fees alone often do not cover the cost. Few providers have other sources of revenue to make up the difference between program costs and parent fees.

45. Why is it so hard for parents who work extended-hour shifts to find child care?
Shifts often begin or end before or after the operating hours of most programs. Even fewer are open on Saturday and Sunday-days that are routine workdays in the retail, health, and hospitality industries.

46. What can be done to fill these gaps?
Incentive programs such as those offered by OCY are a start. The state's education budget contains some dollars for after-school care that can be expanded. Beyond these measures, there will have to be broader strategy. No doubt these gaps will be among the issues addressed by the Early Childhood Task Force established during the 1999 legislative session.

HEAD START

47. Is Head Start a child care service?
Head Start operates as a part-day, part-year pre-school for qualifying three- and four-year-old children, largely low-income.

48. How does Head Start in Mississippi compare with the federal child care funding available?
Mississippi's Head Start allocation is over three times larger than the state's child care budget and has multiple administrative agencies as opposed to a single administrative body. In spite of the significant difference in funds, Head Start also serves about 10,000 fewer children than the state child care program. However, unlike child care, Head Start is funded to provide enhanced services for children, including transportation and certain health and social services. Additionally, no parent co-payment is required.

49. Do some Head Start providers also provide child care?
Yes, some have used certificates from the state and extended their hours, and in some cases also their calendar year, in order to provide the families they serve with child care.

Jane Boykin, author of Child Care: Issues and Answers, is president of the Mississippi Forum on Children and Families and project director for KIDS COUNT Mississippi. As director of OCY in 1991, she wrote the state's initial plan for the use of Child Care and Development Block Grant funds and led efforts to coordinate the state's child care programs into a seamless delivery system. Prior to assuming the OCY position, she served as director of the Center for Family Education, a community-based family support center. Under her leadership the Center's welfare-to-work program was one of five programs nationwide recognized for excellence with the BMW Merit Award. Known for her expertise in financing children's services, she has served as a consultant for foundations and national organizations, and regularly represents the issues of child care for low-income families at national meetings and conferences.

The Mississippi Forum on Children and Families is a private, non-profit organization committed to improving the well-being of Mississippi's children and their families. As the KIDS COUNT grantee for Mississippi, the Forum maintains ongoing activities to educate the public on the status of the state's children and families. In 1999, the Forum's KIDS COUNT activities include the production of three issues briefs. Each will be released in conjunction with the Forum's RUNNING MATESSM - The Campaign for Children-a public engagement initiative to keep the needs of children and families before candidates and the electorate during the 1999 statewide elections. Child Care: Issues and Answers, the first of the three, will be followed by briefs on health care and welfare.

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