Education committee holding hearing to discuss late subsidy payments

MISSOURI – Many childcare providers and low-income families across Missouri are still waiting for state subsidy money to come through after the state says changes to their computer system threw things out of whack late last year.

The Missouri House Education Committee announced today they will be holding a hearing on Sept. 10 to investigate the causes and impact of this delay within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

“It’s just a big issue,” said State Representative Brad Pollitt. “And I think this will give representatives chances to answer, ask questions, and we’ll get the department the opportunity to explain what’s happened, why it’s happened and what they’ve been doing to try to rectify it.”

Jamie Ward is a foster parent in Ozark.

“It feels like it’s just never going to remedy itself,” Ward said.

OzarksFirst crews spoke with her back in June. She said at that time DESE owed her childcare provider $6,000.

Now, some payments have come through but she says DESE still owes several thousand dollars in subsidy payments.

“We’ve had care since February, and I think only a few months have been paid out,” Ward said. “Other than that, they’re still waiting for subsidy for two of our foster kids for several months.”

She tells me she hopes families and providers will be part of that hearing next month.

“It seems like almost like the provider needs to be the one that’s like kind of advocating in the hearings and then they just submit their bills,” Ward said.

House Minority Leader and candidate for governor Crystal Quade says she’s asked DESE to send $75,000 to all providers, then level out payments as issues get fixed.

“I asked them to go ahead and send the money anyway,” Quade said. “You know, the legislature has allocated $215 million to pay for child care for this fiscal year. And we’ve only spent about 24 million of that. So the department literally has the money just sitting there.”

Quade’s opponent, Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe, called the delays “unacceptable” and vowed to help find a solution.

Access to safe and affordable childcare is critical for Missouri families.

This delay in payments to childcare providers is unacceptable, and I will work with the Governor’s Office, the legislature, and DESE to ensure government bureaucracy does not continue to hurt these small businesses in providing essential services to hardworking Missourians.

Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe

Pollitt, the chair of the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, says he’s hopeful by the end of September the payments will be all caught up.

“(Missourians) government should work better than this and they should expect their government to work better than this,” Pollitt said.

The hearing on Sept. 10 will be held at 2 p.m. in Jefferson City at House Hearing Room 3. The public is encouraged to attend.

At any hearing that is scheduled with lawmakers, DESE plans to be transparent about the challenges that exist, and the work being done to address the issues.

Additional information about the challenges and work being done is below.

The new Child Care Data System (CCDS) allows families and providers to have a web-based, near real-time system to enter and view their information for child care subsidy . DESE’s Office of Childhood launched the CCDS in December 2023.

• There have been a number of challenges during the transition to a new data system. DESE recognizes the importance of subsidy payments to the child care industry and the value the program provides to Missouri’s workforce, in particular for families who provide care to children in foster care. DESE and its contractors, World Wide Technology and MTX,  are working hard to address these issues and sincerely apologizes to the child care providers and families affected by this transition.

The ongoing challenges with system issues have created a backlog in family applications for subsidy assistance and provider contract applications. DESE and its vendors are committed to fixing these issues and processing all applications as quickly as possible. Here are the solutions we have put in place:

• Family Applications: DESE has contracted with a staffing agency to provide full-time staff to help clear the backlog of family applications. We expect the backlog in family applications to be cleared by mid to late September. Once approved for subsidy, we will ensure there is no gap in the family’s eligibility and authorizations.
• Provider Contracts: DESE has cross-trained additional staff to help the subsidy team to clear the backlog of provider contract applications. We expect the backlog in provider applications to be cleared by early to mid-September. Once applications are processed, we will ensure there is no lapse in the provider’s contract.
• Provider Payments: Payments are being processed daily and providers are getting paid, though some are not receiving full payment due to ongoing technical issues. DESE has put the following resources in place to address the outstanding payment issues as soon as possible.
  • DESE’s current contractors who support the child care data system have doubled the number of staff working on issues preventing or delaying provider payments.
  • DESE contracted with an agency to clear the backlog of subsidy payment corrections.
  • DESE hired a team of part-time employees to assist with processing requests for missing payments.

Parents and providers with questions may call 573-415-8605 to speak to a customer service representative during these hours:

• Monday through Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Saturday: 8:00 a.m. to Noon

Parents and providers experiencing a longer wait time during the day are encouraged to call back during evening or weekend hours.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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