Missouri child care subsidies have been fully restored following a pause ordered by the Trump administration last week. State officials say providers receiving money from child care subsidies can expect to receive delayed funds by Friday.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education submitted additional justifications for the funds last week, following a notice from the federal government on Thursday requesting more information.
The department said over half of Missouri child care providers were affected by delays in the state's Child Care and Development Fund, which halted funding for invoices submitted between December 30 and January 12.
"We know how important these payments are to providers, and this is our utmost priority," said Office of Childhood Assistant Commissioner Deidre Anderson-Barbee in a statement. "Thank you for your patience, understanding, and commitment to the children and families of Missouri."
More than 90% of funding for Missouri child care subsidies comes from the federal government, according to the current fiscal year budget. Tamyka Perine, executive director of the Gateway Early Childhood Alliance, said the Missouri families who rely on child care subsidies to pay for care were left with few options.
"Providers were already burdened by staffing issues, and this exacerbated that," Perine said. "I hope that having this happen was a wake up call for a lot of people around how important it is for us to support the child care community in our families, and also how important it is to think about how our state is funding child care."
'It really hurts those that are most vulnerable'
Perine said some child care facilities closed as a result of the funding freeze, meaning some families have sent their children to other providers while the closed facilities work to reopen.
Mary Esselman, Operation Breakthrough's CEO, said the federal funding freeze was a surprise to her Kansas City early education center. Operation Breakthrough already weathered delays to Head Start funding reimbursement just months ago during the government shutdown. Esselman said these disruptions are a concern for the children and families they serve and the center’s staff.
Esselman said because of her center’s size, it was waiting on $400,000 in child care subsidies.
“It really touches every aspect of the community when something like this happens, and especially when it happens with no notice,” Esselman said.
Operation Breakthrough serves 400 early care and education students and 250 school-aged students. Esselman said the center has a board-ordered reserve and multiple sources of income to support itself.
But for agencies that rely solely on subsidies, she said they’re in a “heartbreaking” situation.
“I can't even imagine being in a position where staff have already worked and services have been provided and suddenly I can't provide a paycheck,” Esselman said.
Esselman said Missouri’s education department has been doing a good job communicating updates from the federal level as they receive them. But she said situations outside the department’s control — like the federal subsidy pause — diminishes centers’ trust that they’ll receive the subsidy each month.
Operation Breakthrough relies on subsidies to cover some hours for children enrolled in Head Start.
“Some families have to go to work by 6:30 or 8, and they don't get off until 5 or 5:30,” Esselman said. “Well, the Head Start day is right in the middle of the day, so it doesn't cover those early hours or late hours so subsidy becomes essential.”
Esselman said there are a lot of safeguards in place in Missouri against fraud, including licensing visits and record reviews.
“Without a lot of evidence, I just don't think we should make sweeping moves as a nation, because it really hurts those that are most vulnerable and those that we should be protecting and supporting,” Esselman said.
The Trump administration paused child care subsidies in several states after a pro-Trump influencer recently accused a Somali-owned Minneapolis daycare of fraud. The freeze included $10 billion in child care and other social service funds for five Democrat-led states, including Illinois.
Those five states have filed a lawsuit against the administration to have the funds restored. A federal judge on Friday granted the states' request for a temporary restraining order preventing the freeze until the case plays out in court.
