Press Release: Advocates Push to Restore Governor Kehoe’s Critical Child Care Funding in Missouri Budget
JEFFERSON CITY , MO – Advocates for child care are working to restore critical funding for child care removed last week in a proposal before the House Budget Committee’s FY2026 Missouri budget. The funding, proposed by Governor Kehoe, would provide upfront, enrollment-based pay to providers to bring the subsidy payment structure more in line with the private child care market and ensure more stable, predictable funding for providers.
The changes will require several months for administrators to implement. As a result, program administrators need certainty on the funding in the next few weeks to know whether they can move forward with programming the necessary technology changes.
Governor Kehoe’s support for this policy is rooted in his own personal experience. Raised by a single mother alongside his five siblings, he understands the difficult choices working parents face when it comes to child care. Earlier this year, Kehoe talked about his family in his first State of the State. “This is personal to me. My mother worked hard to support my siblings and me. When one of us got sick, she had to make a choice: either leave us at home alone or go to work to pay for our groceries that week. No parent, especially a single mother, should ever have to make that decision,” Governor Kehoe shared in his State of the State in January.
The child care subsidy program provides child care assistance to low-income parents working or attending school or technical training and Missouri’s foster care population. The funding is especially critical as Missouri has faced ongoing challenges in paying child care subsidy providers on time due to complications with a new data system implemented last year. Moving to a prospective, enrollment-based payment model would help ensure more timely and reliable payments to providers, reducing financial strain and helping them keep their doors open.
“Child care providers are the backbone of Missouri’s economy, but the current payment structure puts them in a financially difficult position,” said Brian Schmidt, Executive Director of Kids Win Missouri. “Paying providers upfront and based on enrollment rather than attendance gives them the predictability they need to plan, hire staff, and provide high-quality care for children. It would also reduce delays and uncertainty in payments, ensuring providers can focus on serving families instead of worrying about making ends meet. We urge lawmakers to restore this funding to ensure Missouri families can access reliable and affordable child care.”
Missouri’s child care sector has faced mounting challenges recently, including workforce shortages and rising operational costs. Advocates and the Governor stress that aligning the child care subsidy system with the private market through enrollment-based payments is critical to addressing these issues and ensuring long-term sustainability.
“In this industry, our margins are razor thin, if we even have any profit,” said Nicci Rexroat, who owns three child care centers across Callaway and Cole counties. “Being paid on enrollment would help stabilize our monthly budget and do away with the uncertainty for providers and our families each month.”
Kids Win Missouri, child care providers throughout the state, and other advocacy organizations
are encouraging lawmakers to act swiftly to restore the funding in the House of Representatives
when lawmakers come back next week from spring break.