OOC
OFFICE OF CHILDHOOD
South Central Region Contact Information
Laura Brown: southcentral@mochildhoodcommunityleaders.org
Carrie Camenisch: southcentral@mochildhoodcommunityleaders.org
Jessica Jobe: jjobe@blairoaks.org
Jennifer Millard: jennifermillard@cmca.us
Counties Supported
Henry, St. Clair, Benton, Morgan, Moniteau, Cole, Osage, Miller, Gasconade, Franklin, Crawford, Hickory, Dallas, Camden, Laclede, Maries, Pulaski, Phelps, Dent, Wright, and Texas
This new office provides a comprehensive approach to childhood care and education in Missouri. It includes programs related to child care, home visiting, early learning, and early intervention for children birth to age five, as well as afterschool programs for school-age children. The Office of Childhood is responsible for overseeing DESE’s efforts to expand and improve high-quality early learning opportunities.
Elijah's Law: What You Need to Know
Volunteers Needed
Waitlist Communication
Child Care Subsidy: A Closer Look at Waitlist Operations & Funding
We have received questions regarding why families are not yet moving off the Child Care Subsidy waitlist, even as children naturally leave the program each month. We want to provide transparency on how the waitlist functions and the core metrics guiding our operational decisions.
Why Applications Remain on the Waitlist
When the waitlist was established on March 1, 2026, the program was operating above its long-term budget capacity due to the expiration of temporary federal COVID-19 relief funds.
Moving families off the waitlist is not based on a single metric. Instead, decisions are tied directly to our ability to keep overall program costs safely within our total appropriated budget. To determine when new applications can be processed, we continuously evaluate a combination of critical factors:
- Monthly Expenditures: We track real-time spending trends and cost projections to ensure overall expenditures remain aligned with recurring state and federal funding.
- Active Caseload: We routinely monitor the number of active children, which includes all children listed on approved subsidy applications. While not every active child uses their subsidy benefits every month, they retain the right to do so at any time, representing a potential financial commitment.
Because our current monthly expenditures and active caseload levels remain at full capacity relative to our available funding, we cannot safely invite new families off the waitlist at this time without risking exceeding our fiscal capacity. We will begin processing new applications once overall expenditures and active case numbers drop to a level that allows for sustainable expansion.
Mandatory Exceptions Still Being Processed
The Office of Childhood (OOC) continues to process the following application types without delay:
- Renewals: Annual re-determinations for families currently active in the program.
- Amendments: Updates and change requests for existing, active cases.
- Protective Services (PS): Applications for children receiving protective services. While PS funding has a distinct line item in state budget documentation, these funds draw from the overall federal CCDF block grant framework and must be prioritized according to regulation.
We encourage stakeholders to review our website for updated monthly reports and additional information about the child care subsidy waitlist.
Child Care Data System Update for Subsidy-Contracted Provider
COMING SOON! The Child Care Data System will be updated to include a new feature for child care subsidy providers. This new feature is called Child Enrollment Requests and will allow providers the ability to accept or decline a child's authorization in the provider portal. The new Child Enrollment Requests feature will give providers more control over the children in their authorization list by allowing them to either:
1) Accept the child's authorization,
2) Accept the child's authorization but request a change in the start date, or
3) Decline the child's authorization.
The Child Enrollment Requests feature has been piloted by a small group of providers and is scheduled to go live statewide in CCDS in early September. The Office of Childhood wants to ensure that all child care subsidy providers understand how to use this new feature and will provide training through a live webinar held approximately one week before the feature is live. For those who cannot make the live webinar, a recorded version will be available on the Office of Childhood, Child Care Subsidy website. Please watch your email for more communication and links for these trainings soon.
Newsletter
Childhood Connections February 17, 2026
Office of Childhood Connects Us Together
This year, we are taking a closer look at the Office of Childhood (OOC) by exploring the different programs that work together to support children, families, and early child care professionals across Missouri. In this year’s newsletter series, we will spend each month highlighting different OOC programs. OOC is made up of many unique and connected parts and each plays an important role. Together, all these programs are a part of a larger system that supports families statewide. By breaking down each piece, we aim to show how OOC fits together and build a better understanding of the value of our work.
This month we are highlighting a few of the quality program supports, which are designed to strengthen early childhood care and education. These quality program supports focus on helping child care providers, educators, and administrators build inclusive, healthy, and nurturing environments where children and families can thrive.
Whether you are looking for hands-on consultation, leadership development, or health and wellness guidance, these programs are here with you every step of the way.
Quality support programs featured in this month's article include:
- Child Care Inclusion Services
- Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Initiatives
- Missouri Supporting Early Childhood Administrators
- Program Support Network
- Child Care Health Consultation program
Read about these amazing programs, what they do, and how they can help you here.
NEWS
Child Care Subsidy Waitlist Information
Beginning March 1, 2026, Missouri will implement a waitlist for new Child Care Subsidy applications. Helpful information, including a FAQ and flyers for both providers and families, can be found on the Child Care Subsidy Waitlist webpage.
Children in foster care or receiving preventive services through the Children’s Division, (defined as a “Protective Services Child” in 5 CSR 25-200) who receive child care assistance will not be placed on the waitlist.
Subsidy Solutions:
Issue: Providers have children authorized to their program who are not enrolled.
Solution: If you have this issue, you can contact CCFamilies@dese.mo.gov to have those authorizations removed from your authorization list.
Webinar Follow-up
On January 28, 2026, the Office of Childhood (OOC) hosted a webinar and shared general updates from all sections of OOC, an overview of the Child Care Subsidy waitlist, and the Early Learning priority of DESE’s Strategic Plan. OOC will be working on its strategic plan this spring, which will align with the DESE plan. The timeline for OOC’s strategic plan was shared during the webinar as well.
Slides and a recording from the webinar can be found here. Be on the lookout for more communications regarding an outreach event to get stakeholder feedback on OOC’s strategic plan soon.
Annual First Steps Provider Survey Results
The Early Intervention team has released the results of the Annual First Steps Provider Survey. Key findings from the 2025 survey can be found on the Office of Childhood Newsfeed, and the full 2025 statewide survey results are available online.
New SNAP Webpage
Does your program serve families who receive SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Food Stamps), Temporary Assistance, or MO HealthNet (Missouri Medicaid)? The Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS) has a new webpage available to help families manage their DSS benefits. The page includes:
- Direct links to each benefits portal
- Step-by-step account creation instructions
- Contact information and helpful resources
A printable flyer is also available. Please share this information with your eligible families!
Updated Missouri WIC Posters
The Missouri Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is excited to see you at the Conference on the Young Years (CYY) in March! The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) looks forward to updating you on changes in the WIC program and sharing how you play an important role in helping families get the help they need. Please stop by DHSS's booth to pick up a new outreach poster to display in your facilities. The new poster includes a QR code that directs families to a short online interest form to have a WIC local agency contact them.
If you are unable to see DHSS at CYY in March, you can download and print the new poster or get one during your yearly inspection.
As always, you can locate information about the Missouri WIC program on the WIC Community Partners web page or email DHSS at WICInfo@health.mo.gov. Thank you for caring about Missouri’s families!
Training Opportunities
Free On-Demand Training
Two series of free on-demand training videos are available on the Missouri First Steps Training page. The Protective Factors training videos by Dr. Dave Schram and the Feelings Friday Trauma-Informed Series support relationship-based early intervention.
Dr. Schram’s training provides practical guidance on the Five Protective Factors to strengthen family resilience and child outcomes. The Feelings Friday series offers short sessions on emotional development and trauma-responsive practices to support regulation and safety.
Jefferson City, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) Office of Childhood (OOC) is working with the federal government to ensure Missouri receives funding for child care providers.
Late Thursday, January 8, DESE-OOC received communication from the federal government requiring the department to submit detailed justification for pending child care payment requests in order to receive federal funding. DESE-OOC submitted the required documentation Friday, January 9.
“We understand the importance of verifying these dollars are spent appropriately, given recent events in other states,” said Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger.
Earlier this week DESE-OOC determined Missouri was not able to draw down Child Care and Development Funds (CCDF) to pay providers.
As of Friday, 1,743 Missouri child care providers, roughly 53%, were impacted by the delay in federal payment.
“Our priority is to ensure Missouri families and children continue to have access to safe and quality child care,” said Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger. “We continue to communicate and work alongside our federal partners to resolve the delay in payment as quickly as possible. We are grateful for our child care providers and the important work they do in caring for our young children.”
DESE-OOC has been communicating with providers throughout the week about the delay. Providers are asked to continue submitting invoices, as this will help prevent further delays once funds are received. The department will notify child care providers of an updated timeline once information is available.
“We know how important these payments are to providers, and this is our utmost priority,” said Office of Childhood Assistant Commissioner Deidre Anderson-Barbee. “Thank you for your patience, understanding, and commitment to the children and families of Missouri.”
For questions on child care subsidy payments, please contact CCPayments@dese.mo.gov.
Thank you,
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education |Communications | dese.mo.gov | 573-751-3469
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, veteran status, mental or physical disability, or any other basis prohibited by statute in its programs and activities. Inquiries related to department programs and to the location of services, activities, and facilities that are accessible by persons with disabilities may be directed to the Jefferson State Office Building, Director of Civil Rights Compliance and MOA Coordinator (Title VI/Title VII/Title IX/504/ADA/ADAAA/Age Act/GINA/USDA Title VI), 7th Floor, 205 Jefferson Street, P.O. Box 480, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0480; telephone number 573-522-1775 or TTY 800-735-2966; fax number 573-522-4883; email civilrights@dese.mo.gov.
Resilient Parents, Thriving Children
The OOC in collaboration with the University of Missouri recently created a video training series for parents.
Supported by the Early Childhood Comprehensive System grant, these free, research-based videos for busy parents help build resilience and support your child’s development. These videos are perfect for individuals who want to learn how to manage stress, strengthen relationships, and feel more confident as a parent.
Child Care Subsidy Program for Families
The Missouri Child Care Subsidy Program increases access to early learning by helping eligible families with the cost of child care. This allows families to focus on finding and holding steady jobs or to attend school and training programs.
In order to qualify for child care assistance in Missouri, families must:
- Have a child birth to age 13, or a child with special needs or receiving protective services
- Need child care to work, search for work, participate in job training, or attend school
- Be at or below 150% of the federal poverty level
Help is available to assist families completing the child care subsidy application. Please call the Missouri Childhood Resource and Referral Call Center at 573-415-8605 to speak to a Community Support Specialist.
Subsidy Rate Change
In response to the market rate survey feedback, the Office of Childhood (OOC) is pleased to announce a new and simplified child care provider rate structure.
Providers should anticipate seeing the new rates take effect for services provided on or after October 1, 2025, and first paid in November 2025.
If you have any questions regarding your rates, please contact the Payments Team at CCPayments@dese.mo.gov or by phone 573-526-1385.
See the full article on Subsidy rate change for more information.
UPDATE! Payment on Authorizations and Pay in Advance
The Child Care Subsidy Program is shifting to payments based on authorized enrollment, before the care is provided. This is a big shift from the current payment model that is based on attendance, after the care is provided. We are updating our subsidy rules and terms and conditions to allow DESE to pay in advance for subsidy providers, as well as working on Child Care Data System (CCDS) development for the changes needed to implement pay in advance and on authorized enrollment.
Once the system changes are in place, DESE staff will conduct user acceptance testing along with quality assurance testing from developers. There is a sample group of child care subsidy providers that have agreed to test the changes before the changes go live statewide for all subsidy providers. We are working on a website update where we will soon be able to post all the details about exactly how pay in advance will work, what the system changes will look like, when will this change happen, etc. We will also provide trainings and guides before this goes live statewide.
To stay informed, please make sure that the email we have for your facility account in CCDS is current and that you join future DESE Office of Childhood webinars and trainings about pay in advance.
Child Care Licensing Rule Review
The OOC completed its recommendation of changes to the Missouri child care licensing rules, as required in Executive Order 25-15. This report shares what providers said about Missouri's child care licensing rules and how they should change..
Please see the full Child Care Licensing Rules article for more information or see the Office of Childhood's Implementation Report.
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Initiative
IECMH Consultation
Missouri’s Child Care Health Consultation (CCHC) Program
Enhancing Health and Safety in Missouri’s Child Care and Early Care and Education Settings
Temporary Child Care Licenses
During the 2025 regular session the legislature granted DESE authority to issue temporary child care licenses. Temporary child care licenses support timely access to child care while maintaining regulatory oversight and protecting the well-being of children.
The policy and Frequently Asked Questions documents can be found on DESE’s website.