Mississippi Department of Human Services Chooses ECI to Pilot Child Care Quality Rating System

SEPT. 18, 2006 | The Office for Children and Youth of the Mississippi Department of Human Services has chosen the Mississippi State University Early Childhood Institute to develop a pilot quality rating system for child care in the state.

“Improving the quality of early learning experiences clearly improves children’s chances of success in school,” Julia Todd, director of the Office for Children and Youth, said. “Mississippi will be in the forefront of states nationwide to implement this form of targeted technical assistance. We look forward to working with the MSU Early Childhood Institute to establish the Mississippi Child Care Quality Step System.”

The system will link improvements in quality to higher child care subsidies for child care centers. ECI will help design the system and help launch it in the East Central Planning and Development District, which includes the counties of Clarke, Jasper, Kemper, Lauderdale, Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Scott, and Smith. The pilot phase is Oct. 1, 2006 – Sept. 30, 2007.

“Mississippi State University has long been committed to supporting improvements in quality for early care and education,” Cathy Grace, Ed.D., professor and director of ECI, said. “This is a wonderful new opportunity to encourage continuous improvement for child care centers. We appreciate the confidence of the Office for Children and Youth and the Mississippi Department of Human Services and look forward to working with individual child care directors to help them earn higher and higher ratings.”

The Quality Step system will strengthen key features of child care centers, including learning environments for children, family involvement, and the qualifications of staff.

 

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