From the Arkansas Advocate:
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families on Wednesday called on the state’s education department to delay changes to a child care assistance program the nonprofit argues will decrease access for families in need.
The Arkansas Department of Education issued a press release Friday announcing that a sliding-scale reimbursement structure would take effect Oct. 1 for its School Readiness Assistance Program to “prioritize access for working families and manage program demand responsibly.” The changes aim to reduce the program’s waitlist and sustain services statewide, the department said.
Funded through the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant, the program provides financial assistance for child care to eligible, low-income families while parents work or attend school. The program currently serves more than 16,000 children in Arkansas. In February, the state created a waitlist (which now has around 1,100 children on it) so seats could be offered as funding became available, according to ADE.
In a statement Wednesday, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families said the changes to the program will make child care for eligible families less affordable, create barriers for providers to offer high-quality care and make it difficult for providers to keep programs running. The nonprofit called on the education department to delay the changes and solicit input from child care providers, families and community members who depend on quality child care programs.
“It is disheartening that these changes were made without transparency and blindsided families and the early childhood care and education community,” the AACF statement reads. “The changes were announced on September 19, 2025, and go into effect on October 1. There is no time for providers and families to plan, and children are the ones left to feel the impact.”
The decision to update rates and copayments on Oct. 1 was “driven by the need to ensure the program remains financially sustainable while continuing to prioritize access for working families across Arkansas,” ADE spokesperson Rachel Starks said Wednesday. Additionally, the state is serving more families “than ever before, and the program was heavily subsidized by COVID relief funds that have now expired,” she said.
“We recognize that implementing these changes on a short timeline can create challenges for providers as they plan budgets and communicate with families,” Starks said. “Please know that our team is reviewing all questions and comments as we work to provide additional guidance, resources, and technical support for providers during this transition.”
The updated copayment structure announced by the education department aligns provider reimbursement rates with Arkansas’ market rate survey so payments reflect current care costs, and adjusts the sliding-scale copay based on family income, according to the department news release. The state is also revising eligibility requirements to reflect the 2026 estimated family State Median Income, “which will allow more working families at the lowest income levels to receive priority,” according to the release.
Under the changes, providers will be reimbursed at a single statewide market rate, except in Northwest Arkansas where Benton and Washington counties will have a higher market rate, according to ADE.
“Arkansas families rely on child care to work or complete their education, and providers need predictable funding to serve them well,” Education Secretary Jacob Oliva said in the release. “By aligning payments to current market costs, using a sliding-scale copay, and updated income requirements, we can prioritize the youngest children, and focus support where it is needed most.”
Families who are working or enrolled in school with income at or below the state poverty level will not pay a copayment for children before kindergarten, and families above the poverty level will pay a copay scaled to income and the age of the child, according to ADE. A family of three with a child under four and an income below $30,334 qualifies for up to $35 per day in childcare assistance with no copay. Families whose income is just under $64,459, may have a required copay of up to $12 per day depending on their child’s age.
AACF argued in its statement that more families already struggling to make ends meet will be required to pay a copayment to continue participating in the program as a result of the announced changes.
“Last year, Arkansas made strides by eliminating copayments for families whose household income was between 40-75% of the state median income (SMI),” AACF stated. “Now, the state is reverting to old ways and requiring payment from those families with incomes over 40% of SMI who just recently got relief.”
Federal rules prohibit copayments higher than 7% of a family’s income, but the new structure lists a dollar rate that could exceed that amount, according to the nonprofit.
The state’s reimbursement rate structure for providers is also reversing course, according to AACF, who noted that historically, Arkansas incentivized quality by offering higher reimbursement rates based on what quality level a provider earned.
“Now, reimbursement rates will be a flat rate system, with the rate set depending on the type of care provided, like infant or school-aged,” AACF said. “Participating child care providers in most of the state will experience an average decrease in reimbursement of 18.5%. Some providers will lose $39 per day for each eligible infant enrolled in their programs.”
Noting the LEARNS Act, a wide-ranging education law approved by lawmakers in 2023 that overhauled the state’s K-12 system, “required engagement with stakeholders to create a seamless early childhood educational system that addresses access to quality child care,” AACF argued these new “unilateral changes move the state in the opposite direction.”
“These changes will likely result in child care staff losing jobs, lower quality child care programs, increased prices for private payers, providers struggling even more to make ends meet, families who cannot afford the copayment losing access to child care, and ultimately, a harsher system for the families who need support the most,” AACF stated.
An ADE resource with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the program is available here.
