{"id":9009,"date":"2026-03-26T05:55:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/26\/missouri-child-care-advocates-rally-at-capitol-say-cuts-would-worsen-shortage\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T05:55:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:55:27","slug":"missouri-child-care-advocates-rally-at-capitol-say-cuts-would-worsen-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/26\/missouri-child-care-advocates-rally-at-capitol-say-cuts-would-worsen-shortage\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri child care advocates rally at Capitol, say cuts would worsen shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n

Child care providers, parents and advocates gather for a rally marking Child Advocacy Day in the Missouri Capitol on Wednesday (Steph Quinn\/Missouri Independent).<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hundreds of child care providers, parents and child advocates rallied in the Missouri Capitol Wednesday, a day after the House signed off on<\/span> $51.5 million in cuts to the state\u2019s child care subsidy program<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The proposed budget, which needs another roll call vote in the House before heading to the Senate, would also derail plans for the state to start paying subsidies to child care providers at the beginning of the month based on enrollment, instead of at the end of the month after providers report children\u2019s attendance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Providers and parents who attended the Child Advocacy Day rally said problems of funding instability and scarcity of affordable, quality child care are not new. They emphasized the importance of the subsidy program, which uses state and federal funds to help bring child care within reach of low-income and foster families.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But as the state faces a <\/span>looming fiscal cliff<\/span><\/a>, efforts to restore the cuts and clear the way to implement enrollment-based payments face obstacles. Senate leaders have not yet embraced either step, and the House budget would block the payment change from taking effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>average annual cost of child care<\/span><\/a> for an infant in Missouri is $13,780, according to Child Care Aware of Missouri. For a 4-year-old, it\u2019s $9,568. And 78 of Missouri\u2019s 114 counties are <\/span>child care deserts<\/span><\/a>, where there are more than three times as many children ages 5 and under as there are licensed child care slots.<\/span><\/p>\n

Deidre Anderson-Barbee, assistant commissioner of the Missouri Office of Childhood, told those attending the rally that child care accessibility is integral to the state\u2019s \u201ceconomic strength\u201d and \u201cworkforce stability.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are not separate issues,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are deeply connected.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The House budget plan, laid out by Republican state Rep. Dirk Deaton of Seneca, chair of the House Budget Committee, would close a nearly $2 billion deficit by <\/span>using most of the surplus<\/span><\/a> in the state\u2019s general revenue fund.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Attempts to restore child care subsidy funding thwarted in the Missouri House<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Senate Appropriations Chairman Rusty Black, a Republican from Chillicothe, told The Independent that it\u2019s too soon to discuss the prospects of restoring funding for the subsidy program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to work through the budget on this side,\u201d Black said. \u201c[Other] people have priorities as well, and we\u2019ll see what it looks like as we go through.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Democratic state Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern of Kansas City said she is \u201cvery hopeful\u201d that the Senate will be able to restore the cuts in its version of the budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI will work tirelessly to make that happen,\u201d said Nurrenbern, who serves on the appropriations committee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ciere Hunter, director of Magical Minds Child Care in St. Louis, told The Independent that her center participates in the subsidy program to allow parents to work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of them are paycheck to paycheck trying to manage a whole household,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cSo they really do need that assistance\u2026to keep the roofs over their children\u2019s heads.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The subsidy program is available only to low-income families who earn up to 150% of the <\/span>federal poverty level<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the basic subsidy rate, centers currently receive \u201crate enhancements\u201d for gaining accreditation, serving foster children or children with special needs or \u2014 like Hunter\u2019s center \u2014 for serving mostly low-income families.<\/span><\/p>\n

Deaton\u2019s budget plan would eliminate those enhancements. Deaton argued during debate on the budget that they can be cut because they were introduced before the state began compensating providers at 100% of the market rate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not reducing a single rate,\u201d Deaton said.<\/span><\/p>\n

State Rep. Betsy Fogle of Springfield, ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, countered that the cuts would \u201cfurther compound the problem of working families and kids in foster care accessing quality and affordable child care.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which administers the subsidy program, planned to begin paying providers based on enrollment in May.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunter said receiving subsidy payments in advance would provide much-needed funding certainty. Her center has to be prepared to serve every child who enrolls in child care, even those who don\u2019t attend. Attendance-based payment means the center doesn\u2019t get compensated for all its work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing is, whether a kid comes or not, we still have everything accounted for that child,\u201d Hunter said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nurrenbern said the plan to implement enrollment-based payment resulted from years of bipartisan work and consultations with providers, child advocates and the department.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was direction from the department, from the experts, from those who are in the field of early childhood, asking that the payments be changed,\u201d Nurrenbern said.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the House budget would \u201c<\/span>prohibit subsidy payments based on any \u2018non-attendance based methodology.\u201d State Budget Director Dan Haug <\/span>said earlier this month<\/span><\/a> that the state would not make the change in May if Deaton\u2019s recommendation is signed into law.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nurrenbern said this is \u201cproblematic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProviders have to have clarity as to if they\u2019re going to have the money in the door to be able to pay their [employees],\u201d she said. \u201c\u2026If they can\u2019t keep people employed to provide that care, then they\u2019re forced to close their doors. This is why we have seen so many shortages of child care providers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Courtney Leader, of Ash Grove, told The Independent that child care scarcity had a permanent impact on her daughter\u2019s life.<\/span><\/p>\n

As an infant, her daughter was on a waiting list for a child care center \u201cbecause there\u2019s just not enough spots for all of the children.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During that time, Leader said, her daughter was shaken by an at-home caregiver and, as a result of her injuries, requires 24-hour care and uses a wheelchair full-time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHad she had access to quality, safe child care as an infant,\u201d she said, \u201cher life would look very different now.\u201d <\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Child care providers, parents and advocates gather for a rally marking Child Advocacy Day in the Missouri Capitol on Wednesday (Steph Quinn\/Missouri Independent). Hundreds of child care providers, parents and child advocates rallied in the Missouri Capitol Wednesday, a day after the House signed off on $51.5 million in cuts to the state\u2019s child care…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMissouri child care advocates rally at Capitol, say cuts would worsen shortage - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/26\/missouri-child-care-advocates-rally-at-capitol-say-cuts-would-worsen-shortage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Missouri child care advocates rally at Capitol, say cuts would worsen shortage - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Child care providers, parents and advocates gather for a rally marking Child Advocacy Day in the Missouri Capitol on Wednesday (Steph Quinn\/Missouri Independent). 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