Missouri education department still behind on child care subsidy payments

MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is still behind on payments to child care providers after previously saying issues would be resolved by the end of July.

The state is responsible for payments to child care providers that accept children on state subsidies.

Last month, Moberly daycare owner Naomi Hess told ABC 17 News that she hadn't received any payments from the state for six months, causing her not to take a personal paycheck.

A DESE spokesperson had previously said in a statement that the issues were due to the department transitioning to a new data system, saying, "While there are a few systemwide issues left to address, the remaining payment issues are on track to be resolved by the vendor before the end of the month (July 2024)."

However, as of Aug. 1, Hess said the state still owes her February, April, May, June and July payments.

A DESE spokesperson wrote in a statement that the department has now contracted with a "state-qualified vendor" to help solve the backlog of issues. The statement, which DESE began sharing on July 24, said issues will be resolved in the next 90 days.

"Requests related to payments between January and May 2024 will be addressed by this contracted team," the statement said. "There are approximately 1,800 childcare providers who received subsidy payments during this time and most have requested a payment resolution for at least one subsidy-eligible child in their program. This team will be resolving all past payment issues within the next 90 days, and addressing any current payment reconciliation requests, if needed."

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