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Working Groups
Our working groups complete projects
that align with our agenda
Our working groups complete projects that align with the Forum’s Common Agenda.
These projects build upon one another – as well as related work outside of Forum for the Future – to help us make
incremental progress toward a state-of-the-art childhood system in Mississippi.
Our Working Group Process
True Cost of Child Care
Goal
Industry leaders, child care providers, and economic analysts will consider the comprehensive cost of providing quality child care services. Together, they will identify and, if possible, begin implementing solutions to help child care providers maintain financially stable programs and increase worker salaries. Over the past year, the group has contributed to the data collection for the Mississippi Department of Human Services 2024 Market Rate Survey and encouraged providers to participate in the Cost of Care Analysis that was being done by P-3 Fiscal Strategies. This data will be used to determine next steps.
Co-Chairs
Dr. Jeff Leffler-Entrekin
Associate Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs, Delta State University
Tamara Smith
Director of Early Childhood, Midtown Partners, Inc.
Seek to Answer These Key Questions
- From a financial and business perspective, what does it take to run a sustainable child care program (including staffing needs and wages, realistic tuition, supplies, rent/mortgage, etc.)?
- How do costs and business needs differ according to center type and setting (i.e. urban vs. rural, home-based vs. center-based)?
- What are critical issues within the child care business model?
Progress
The True Cost of Care working group will be leveraging data from the 2024 Market Rate Survey Report and the Narrow Cost Analysis Report that were published in June 2024 to develop tailored budgets for child care centers, ensuring efficient operation and high standards of care.
Built for Babies
Goal
Through the support from the national organization Zero to Three’s “Built For Babies” technical assistance and grant, a group of advocates and leaders are meeting to design a messaging toolkit that our coalition can use to inform Mississippi decision-makers and policymakers about the importance of early childhood issues.
Co-Chairs
Biz Harris
Executive Director, MELA
Christy Stanton
Sr. Technical Assistance Specialist, Zero to Three
Seek to Answer These Key Questions
- What shared values do Mississippi decision-makers hold?
- How do those values relate to Infant and Toddler policy issues?
- What framing and stories should advocates use to educate decision-makers about Infant and Toddler issues?
Progress
The Built For Babies working group has developed our target audience, target users, and explored the National Collaborative for Infants and Toddlers (NCIT) Archetypes documents to begin drafting original Mississippi-focused messages. The launch of the Built For Babies Communications Toolkit is tentatively scheduled for September 2025.
