Have a child care facility in Mississippi? You could be awarded more than $400,000

MISSISSIPPI, USA — If you have a child care center in Mississippi, you may be able to get your hands on $400,000 in pandemic relief. 

The state-wide grant is called Child Care Strong. These are grants offered through the Mississippi Department of Human Services to child care providers as a part of the American Rescue Plan and are designed to help with operating expenses. 

Childcare providers across are encouraged to apply for the payments beginning December 1, 2021, so they start receiving funding in February 2022.  

The application portal is available here: Child Care Strong – Mississippi Department of Human Service. 

Who is eligible for funding?

• Providers who are licensed or registered and meet federal criteria are eligible.
• Licensed providers and non-relative in-home providers DO NOT have to be participating in the Child Care Payment Program (CCPP) to be eligible for this funding.
• Some conditions will prevent providers from being awarded funding:
  • Any provider who has been found to have committed fraud/intentional program violation in the Child Care Payment Program within the past year is disqualified.
  • Any program that is not in good financial standing with MDHS is ineligible. Good financial standing means there are no state or federal liens or garnishments on your account, that you currently do not owe MDHS any repayment of funding, and that all financial reports required by MDHS are current. Click here to view a list of providers in good financial standing. This information will be updated regularly.
  • Any provider under revocation or suspension of their license or registration status with the MS Department of Health, Division of Child Care Licensure, or CCPP is disqualified.
  • Early Head Start or Head Start programs/grantees are not qualified.
  • Any program currently receiving state or local funding to cover operating expenses is not qualified, for example, Head Start programs, public Pre-K, etc.
• If a single owner has multiple sites, they should apply for funding separately for each license/registration number.
• Click here to see if you are eligible for Provider Eligibility for American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act Child Care Stabilization Subgrants (hhs.gov)

The money has to be used in accordance with the program's guidelines. That includes:

• Staff costs 
• mortgage/rent, utilities, facility maintenance, and improvements, or insurance. 
• Personal protective equipment, cleaning and sanitation supplies, services, or training/professional development related to health and safety practices. 
• Goods and services necessary to maintain or resume child care services.
• Mental health supports for children and employees.   

The benefits of this grant trickle down to parents too. According to MDHS, parents on government slots don’t have to pay their co-pay once their child's daycare receives this money. Daycare centers can see an estimate of how much they will be awarded on the MDHS website.  

If you are awarded the money you have until Sept. 30, 2022, to use it all. If you don’t you have to pay back MDHS. If you apply in December you can expect to receive the grant at the beginning of February. 

FAQ

1. Do I have to operate at full capacity?

No. Base award amounts will be issued based on a provider’s allowed capacity; however, providers do not have to have full enrollment in order to receive the full award amount.

2. How will I receive the grant award?

All Child Care Strong funds will be issued through direct deposit. All CCPP-approved providers have received instructions on registering for direct deposit for their subsidy payments and should follow those instructions.

3. Will I have to pay these funds back?

Funds received under this funding are not a loan and will not be paid back as long as funds were expended for allowable uses by eligible providers within the allowable timeframe. All funds must be spent by September 30, 2022. Any funds not expended by this deadline will be returned to MDHS.

4. When can I expect to receive my funding

Funding will be issued prior to the first month of the award period. Once a Child Care Strong application has been approved, a provider will receive an email notification containing monthly award amounts and a notice of the next date for the release of funding. Initial award funds will be released on or about the 20th day of the month prior to the first award month. Ongoing funding will be released on or about the 20th day of each month.

5. What information will I need in order to receive funding?

All providers will be required to complete and submit an application for funding.

If a provider’s per month cost of operating is in excess of the estimated monthly amount included in per-child rate table above, they must provide documentation of one month’s operating expenses to be eligible for an increased award amount. To determine this, providers should refer to the posted per-child rates above to identify the rate that applies to their program. That amount should be multiplied by their maximum child capacity to determine the estimated monthly expense amount offered by this program. Example:

1. Licensed capacity is 23 children.
2. The program operates fewer than six hours per day. (This is part-time)
3. The per-child rate for this size center that operates part-time is $388 per child.
4. The provider multiplies capacity (23 children) by the per-child rate ($388) and determines a monthly estimated expense amount of $8,924.
5. The provider compares this amount to their records of operating expenses to determine if this estimated amount is equal to or more than their monthly operating expenses. If the estimated expense amount is lower than the provider’s documented monthly expenses, they have the option to upload documentation to support this claim.