JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi has seen consistent increases in the number of families accepting public assistance for child care, the fastest increase since lawmakers banned abortion in nearly all circumstances. This happened after the child support policy was changed in May. the welfare chief said Friday.
Bob Anderson, who heads the Mississippi Department of Human Services, spoke at a Congressional hearing on funding requests for the next budget cycle, saying the rising trend in voucher enrollment could cause the agency to “hit a wall with state and federal funding.” This means that there is a possibility that this may place a burden on parents. Receive a waiting period for childcare assistance.
As of this month, 31,532 households had received these vouchers, up from 24,500 in October last year, according to a ministry tally.
“This is what we were told to expect when Dobbs happened,” Anderson said, citing Mississippi’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned 50 years of abortion rights protections. It’s consistent with what we were doing,” he said. Established by Roe v. Wade.
After Dobbs, Mississippi law enacted a law that only prohibited abortions if the woman’s life was in danger or if the pregnancy resulted from a rape reported to law enforcement.
This comes after Republican Gov. Tate Reeves approved the Council of Early Childhood Administrators’ recommendation to repeal a 19-year-old policy that forced single parents and guardians to seek child support from their partner. Voucher registrations further accelerated in May. Parents may qualify for assistance through the Child Care Payment Program, which provides assistance to low-income parents.
Advocates have long called for a change to the policy, saying many single mothers are deterred from applying for aid because they fear identifying ex-partners could lead to abuse. He also said that if parents can’t find child care, they won’t be able to return to work.
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, also a Republican, disputed the idea that the abortion ban is affecting child care ticket enrollment. He said the increase could not be tied to Dobbs because “the actual number of births is lower than before,” and that the spike was instead a result of the policy change in May.
“It’s clear that it wasn’t Dobbs’ decision. The fact that we made this policy decision has the approval of the governor, and that’s why thousands of people are eligible,” Horsman said. he said. “And the flip side of that coin is that fathers should be held accountable because their responsibilities are not identified by the individual.”
Anderson said more children are being born in Mississippi than if abortion were still legal, leading to increased demand for services.
“I don’t know if that’s a direct corollary of Dobbs. You can debate that,” Anderson said.
Reeves’ office said in a statement that May’s decision was made because the governor is “constantly seeking additional ways to make state government more effective and efficient.”
“The governor has listened to the experts and their recommendations that changing this policy will allow more mothers to participate in the workforce without penalty,” said Cory Custer, the governor’s chief of staff. We made the decision based on that.” “If we decide that our previous policies are a better path to prosperity, we will be happy to return.”
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Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him at @mikergoldberg.
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