On June 7, Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed HB 2365, a bill to remove the pilot status and extend the sunset of Missouri’s child care quality improvement program, known as the Quality Assurance Report.
The voluntary program provides an avenue for child care providers in home-based, exempt from licensure, and center-based care to receive professional development coaching, training, and seek best practices in caring and educating young children.
“We know that quality life-long learning begins with early childhood education. Continuously improving early learning in Missouri is going to set our children up for a lifetime of success,” said Rep. Brenda Shields, sponsor of HB 2365. “I am proud that Governor Parson signed the bill into law for Missouri’s kids.”
Since initial passage in 2016, Missouri’s Quality Assurance Report has had five small cohorts and has allowed Missouri to compete and obtain two federal preschool development grants, resulting in more than $30 million in federal funding since 2019 to streamline and improve Missouri’s early childhood governance and infrastructure.
“This program extension is the latest example of how Governor Parson and the Missouri General Assembly are working together to support our state’s youngest children and those who care for them,” said Craig Stevenson, director of policy and advocacy for Kids Win Missouri.
Through an evaluation report after the first five cohorts, more than 75% of participating child care providers reported that the program resulted in improvements to their program. Improving children’s quality of child care environments and interactions with providers results in better outcomes and kindergarten readiness.
“Having a system in place that can provide additional tools to help families identify quality child care is a win for young children in Missouri,” said Robin Phillips, CEO of Child Care Aware® of Missouri. “The more tools parents have to make informed choices, the more empowered they are to choose a child care provider they can partner with in their child’s growth and development.”
“The Quality Assurance Report gives early care and education providers a tool that will facilitate a continuous improvement program,” said Linda Rallo, vice president of Aligned. “As a business-leader led organization, we believe high quality early education programs will deliver the highest return-on-investment to society by preparing children for success later in life.”
The Quality Assurance Report will be led by the Office of Childhood within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and based on feedback, will increase support in implementing best practices to providers specializing in care for infants and toddlers, home-based child care, and Pre-kindergarten age children.
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