Flouting Law with Impunity?

Flouting Law with Impunity?

Agency Division Directors proposing Significant Amendments to a set of regulations should be required by the legislature to attend public hearings for the proposed rules adoptions and to give the rationale determining the agency’s decisions in that public forum.

The Mississippi legislature should also reinstate a Board of Directors for the Department of Human Services. Direct Board oversight would likely bring about rapid response to alleged Division incompetency and/or the flouting of law and block grant regulations with impunity.

As it stands now, there is no apparent state or federal consequence or any consequence of sufficient significance to change the alleged pattern and practice demonstrated by DECCD to defy federal Program guidance and the fair rule making process.

Some have said, regardless of whether or not CCDF Directors have served at the pleasure of Republican Governors or Democratic Governors, never before, in the history of Mississippi’s Child Care Development Fund, has there been an administration to just up and change CCDF Program policy – sometimes in mid-stream – through a careful play of words and/or personal interpretation often resulting in a new and unexpected application opposite an adopted rule’s understanding or intent.

And the safeguards in place to allow for a fair hearing on the merits of adverse application has not served as the deterrent it should because the DECCD Director, the individual most likely to be instructing “new and unexpected” adverse policy implementation, is also the Hearing Officer!    🙂

Jill Dent was appointed following the establishment of the State Early Childhood Advisory Council – the foremost public entity she identifies as responsible for approving the Proposed FFY 2014-2015 Mississippi CCDF State Plan.

At a recent meeting, however, child care providers questioned whether or not SECAC actually approved or even saw DECCD’s Proposed CCDF State Plan as initially filed with the Secretary of State and published in the Administrative Bulletin.  After all, the Plan sought to adopt payment to providers through the Xerox e-Childcare™ system of payment without benefit of an Economic Impact Statement and during a time in which MDHS was restrained from doing so under Chancery Court decreed Preliminary Injunction. (Click here to review page 29 of the Administrative Bulletin.)

Child Care leadership further mocked the results and questioned SECAC’s actual acceptance of the DECCD 2013 Fair Market Rate Survey which found that without any increase in child care assistance fees whatever since BEFORE three Minimum Wage increases, coupled with the rising annual costs of doing business over almost eight years, the State’s share of payment to providers in some regions has GROWN to provide a greater percentage of the 2013 fees now charged than was provided in 2011.   🙂

At last week’s public hearings, child care leadership presented comments addressing many such concerns and raised formal objections to alleged Administrative Procedures Law violations so that further legal action, if necessary, may be taken.

Jill Dent did not attend.

A Court stenographer was present.

The public hearing facilitator concluded the meeting saying all comments would be posted to the MDHS website.

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