OPINION: Working families can’t wait: Mississippi must act now on childcare

By Senator Hillman Frazier

District 27, Hinds County 

Mississippi is facing a childcare crisis. Those directly impacted: our kids, working parents, and daycare providers, are calling on the state to act, to utilize existing state and TANF funds to fill the gap and ensure all eligible working families have access to childcare. As a State Senator proudly representing the hardworking families of Hinds County, I’m joining them in that call. 

The crisis is coming from many directions. As a result of expired pandemic funds, nearly 20,000 families are now on a growing waitlist for child care vouchers – coupons that make child care affordable for low-income working parents. Then there’s President Trump’s federal budget bill, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which pays for trillions of dollars in tax cuts to billionaires and corporations by cutting Medicaid and food assistance for hundreds and thousands of our neighbors. And the bill’s childcare provisions do little to help the crisis families face. On top of all of that, this year the federal government announced a federal funding freeze, paired with a notice that it was rescinding rules permitting states to pay providers without verifying attendance logs. All of this has added to the confusion and stress of Mississippi’s childcare providers, and the parents who depend on them. 

But these are not just numbers, statistics,  legislative or executive actions.  These are thousands of working families without vouchers trying to piece together haphazard child care with family members, or going into debt with their child care providers. Childcare providers carry the burden too, eating the cost and risking closure. Childcare providers are small business owners and  have monthly obligations that they must meet.

I recently had an opportunity to tour the Agape Christian Academy World daycare in my district, and learned firsthand the challenges that they are facing daily. The owner, Mrs. Cantrell Keyes told me that her center has the capacity to serve seventy-five students, but because of the cut in vouchers her center is now serving only twenty-two students. Her center once received $23,000.00 per month in childcare vouchers, but is now receiving $5,000.00 a month. Her overhead is the same. This has put stress on her center to make payroll and to keep the center open to provide quality childcare to these families. 

Many parents are facing a dilemma whether to work or to stay home with their children because they cannot afford to pay for quality childcare. Leaving their child at home unattended is not an option. 

I spoke with Ms. Sharon Watson, a single parent who works in the private sector. As a result of the voucher crisis her payment for childcare went from $60.00 a week to $200.00 a week. That limits what she can provide for her child. She said that she is thankful that Mrs. Keyes understands her circumstances and is working with her to continue providing the quality care that her child is receiving.

Cutting off or slowing child care funding worsens the state’s affordability crisis, with disastrous impacts for parents, children, workers, and the economy. It just takes one day without child care for a parent to lose their job, and only a few weeks without funding for a child care provider to shut its doors for good. According to a recent survey by the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative, in 2025, 170 licensed child care centers in the state closed. That’s the highest number in nearly a decade. But Mississippi officials have the power, and the money, to act. 

It just so turns out that the Mississippi Department of Human Services has $156 million in stockpiled TANF funds that can be used to address the childcare voucher waitlist, and ensure thousands of families get the childcare they need, and providers can keep doing their invaluable work. Using part of the $156 million can provide immediate relief. I was encouraged to see agency director Bob Anderson commit to pursuing a solution to address this crisis at a Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee meeting on January 21, 2026. He was also open to receiving $60 million in State appropriations to address this crisis.

In this crisis, it is essential the state acts swiftly. Families and daycare providers alike are counting on us. And in the future, we need a new approach to avoid a crisis like this from happening again. With the cost of care for one child averaging $5,000-$7,000 a year and not enough child care for families who need it, working families are finding it harder and harder to access care they can afford. Mississippi should learn from other states like New Mexico, which recently made child care free for everyone. This is possible, if we work together and prioritize the prosperity of working families in our great state.