Employment
Equity for
Single Moms
Do you need to earn higher wages? Do you need help paying the cost of child care?
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MLICCI works to improve women’s economic security in Mississippi by making child care affordable for low-income working moms, achieving gender and racial equity in the workforce and making the safety net work for women.
We know that single moms need jobs that pay higher wages and affordable child care that supports work. That’s why we’ve launched the Employment Equity for Single Moms (EESM) project to help single mothers in Mississippi connect to the resources they need to find higher-paying jobs in their local area. Ultimately, our goal is to help every single mother earn a livable wage and become more financially secure.
EESM case managers with child care, workforce development and other community partners across the state to identify resources and opportunities that we can connect to our single mom participants in their local area.
Services EESM provides are unique and tailored to each case. If eligible, EESM case managers provide services including case management, career coaching, job search and job readiness preparation, career action planning, identifying living wage goals, one-on-one assistance applying to the state’s Child Care Payment Program and Bridge Child Care assistance for up to 3 months for moms pursuing a higher-wage career.
Other services are made available as needed. We encourage you to speak with your case manager!
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Employment Equity for Single Moms: FAQ
How Do I Get in Touch with an EESM Case Manager?
Use our quick form to send your contact information and a member of our team will reach back out to you within 5-7 days via phone call, text and email you provide on our contact form (please note that our team receives referrals once per week. On rare occasions, some holidays and other unforeseen events may affect this response time). You can see who your EESM case manager will be by looking at our map of case manager regions. You will see what region your county is in along with your Case Manager’s name, phone number and email address.
How will I know if I qualify to receive help from EESM?
If you live in Mississippi and are a single mom interested in taking steps to pursue education or training and employment offering higher wages, we want to talk to you. We have case managers who are eager to explore a career path that offers you a family-sustaining wage and we want to provide you with labor market information, living wage tools, career action planning, support services like child care and assistance connecting to employers and education/training providers. After speaking with our team about your goals and your options, we will determine what services we can offer that best meet your needs.
Does the program cost me anything?
Participating in EESM is free to you as a single mom.
Will I be able to select the child care center that I enroll my child(ren) in?
Absolutely. We have a network of child care providers who are ready to care for your children, but you ultimately decide which of those providers you’ll enroll with.
Does EESM provide training and employment?
EESM does not provide job training or employment directly, but our case managers can help connect you to resources that our local workforce development partners can provide. Our team can also help you with job search and identifying job options in your area. Our EESM team does provide you career coaching and job readiness coaching.
EESM Case Managers
Need to contact a case manager?
See our map to identify who is your local area's contact.
Mom describes how the EESM Program has helped to strengthen her voice.
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January 2022
August 2021
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Are you a child care provider interested
in the EESM Program?
We'd love to hear from you.
We partner with child care providers to serve EESM single mom participants. We require our EESM child care providers to be center-based, currently licensed through the Mississippi State Department of Health and currently approved for the MDHS Child Care Payment Program.
Our EESM Case Managers will meet with you in person or by phone, explain the EESM program and go over the quick and easy steps to become an eligible EESM child care provider. MLICCI pays providers for the cost of parents’ care during a 3-month period.
Case managers also help participants apply for CCPP during this time. EESM’s goal is to connect our participants to long-term child care assistance through MDHS’s CCPP program.
Click below to drop us a message today.
Child Care Provider: FAQs
How do I become an EESM child care provider?
Participation in EESM means that you can receive payment from MLICCI for child care services you provide to eligible and approved EESM participants. You can submit an inquiry on our website contact form and our EESM staff will contact you at the email or phone number you provide. From there, you can set up a time to discuss the steps your center needs to take to be eligible and our team will get you all set up! Usually, this process can be done using electronic communication, but we are always happy to meet with you in-person at your center. We do have several requirements you must agree to before we can approve you as an EESM child care provider and pay you for services.
What requirements are there for my child care center to participate in the EESM Bridge Child Care program?
Our EESM Bridge Child Care program is designed to seamlessly “bridge” single moms from our short-term Bridge Child Care assistance program to long-term public CCPP child care assistance.​​ Here are some of our general requirements for participating child care providers: ​
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Must be currently licensed. MLICCI requires child care provider partners to be currently licensed with the Mississippi State Department of Health.
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Must be center-based and an approved CCPP provider. MLICCI requires child care providers to be center-based and currently approved for the Child Care Payment Program (CCPP) through the Mississippi Department of Human Services. Our team will verify your CCPP and licensure status on the MSDH database.
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Sign an MOU with MLICCI. We require each child care provider to enter a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with MLICCI, laying out what our EESM program is, what we agree to provide in terms of paying for your services for approved EESM participants and what we ask you to agree to provide as a participating child care center. The MOU is not like a contract. You can decide to no longer participate at any time with a 30-day notice.
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Provide a W-9. We require you to provide MLICCI with IRS form W-9. This is required to provide you payments for services.
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Provide center rate sheet and handbook. We require you to provide us with your current rate sheet and center handbook, and any updates made to rate sheets or center handbooks. We pay for services that are consistent with the fees your center charges the general public.
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Submit invoice and attendance sheets monthly by requested deadline. MLICCI pays for your services once per month. We provide a simple invoice and child attendance form that we ask you to fill out and submit by the 10th of the month following services. We will send you payment at the address you identify.
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Our case management team is ready to support your participation and can answer any of your questions! They can also provide more information, such as our policies about reporting excessive absences or the process when parents change providers.
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How are parents approved for EESM?
Parents are approved by the EESM case management team. You will receive confirmation from EESM that parents are approved before you invoice MLICCI for services. These start and end dates define the period of time that EESM will pay directly for parents’ child care costs.
How long do parents receive EESM Bridge Child Care Assistance?
Typically, EESM Bridge Child Care is provided to eligible and approved EESM participants for a period of up to 12 weeks at most. During this time, EESM Case Managers provide assistance to moms applying for longer-term child care assistance through CCPP. Because our EESM providers are already CCPP-approved, we aim to seamlessly transition our participants from EESM Bridge Child Care to longer-term CCPP child care. This also means a steady revenue source for your center and stable child care for single moms. In some cases, EESM participants are approved for EESM Bridge Child Care assistance on a shorter-term or on a conditional basis. Your EESM case manager will communicate with you about eligibility periods for the EESM participants you serve.
How do I get compensated for participating in EESM?
Once you have signed an MOU with MLICCI and have agreed to participate in EESM as a provider, you will be eligible to submit invoices for services provided to approved EESM participants who select your center for child care services. MLICCI issues payment in the month following services provided. For example, you would submit an invoice for services provided from January 1st to January 31st, 2025, by February 10th, 2025. MLICCI sends a payment to you after reviewing and verifying the invoice. We pay total child care costs for the specified period and no more than 12 weeks. We cover one-time registration fees. We do not pay fees parents may be charged for things such as picking children up late. We reimburse for a maximum of 10 hours