RED LODGE, Mont. — Finding child care can be difficult in a small Montana community like Red Lodge. For some providers, getting reimbursed for the care they provide has become another challenge.
Montana's new childcare payment system was supposed to make things easier — but one Red Lodge daycare says the delays are still putting families at risk. Here's what providers are saying:
Months after Montana rolled out a new online system for managing child care programs and Best Beginnings scholarships, some providers say they are still waiting weeks for payments.
The state says processing times are improving, but providers say the delays can put pressure on their businesses — and ultimately the families they serve.
For Threasa Novasio, opening Little Mountain Explorers in Red Lodge was about filling a need she saw in her community.
“It’s been my dream,” Novasio said. “It makes me happy and it makes me feel like this is why I am here."
Little Mountain Explorers is one of just a few licensed child care centers in Red Lodge. Last year, Novasio and her husband, Seth, expanded the center from eight to 15 children.
“I expanded from eight to 15 just last year, just to help out because there was such a need,” Novasio said.
The Novasios also accept Best Beginnings, Montana’s child care scholarship program that helps eligible families pay for care while reimbursing participating providers.
At Little Mountain Explorers, Novasio estimates about half of the children enrolled use Best Beginnings.
But Novasio said payments through the state’s new online system have not always arrived when expected.
“We don’t get paid on time. They will be three weeks late, a month late. We don’t get paid — we get paid a dollar,” said Seth Novasio.
Providers report problems with new system
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services moved Best Beginnings and other child care functions into the Montana Access to Quality Child Care System, known as MAQCS.
The system was designed to modernize how the state handles child care licensing, scholarships, invoicing and payments.
But the Novasios say, they have run into problems navigating the new system.
Threasa said children receiving Best Beginnings can appear in the system one month and disappear the next. She also said there have been times when she could not enter the days and hours children were in her facility.
And sometimes, she said, the drop-down menus she needs to complete monthly tasks simply do not appear.
When she calls for help, Novasio said she does not always feel her concerns are resolved.
“It’s a complaint that they hear, but it’s a complaint that’s brushed off,” she said.
Her husband, Seth, said providers can also find themselves trying to determine what went wrong when a payment is delayed.
“You will call them up and they don’t process payments and then when you call them up, they will say, ‘Oh, you did this wrong,’” he said.
State says delays are improving
The concerns come as the state continues working through the transition to MAQCS.
At a recent legislative hearing, state officials said a significant share of delayed payments were connected to issues on the provider side, while the remaining delays were attributed to the state.
That distinction is important: The state says not every delayed payment is the result of a problem with the MAQCS system itself.
At a recent legislative hearing in Helena, the state said 67 delayed payments were tied to issues on the provider side, many of which are due to outdated state licenses while about one-third were attributed to the state.
Billings Sen. Mike Yakawich, who sits on the legislative committee overseeing the issue, said the state has acknowledged that payment processing still needs improvement.
At the same time, the state’s own review shows most payments are being made on time, with a 99.7% compliance rate over the three-month period reviewed.
“Earlier this year they had a delay of almost 70 days in payments. Now they are down to 20 days,” Yakawich said.
Yakawich said the state is also working on quality control as it continues to use the new system.
“The state recognizes that they could do a better job,” he said. “And so they initiate a new program called MAQCS, and that is quality control for daycares and for Best Beginnings.”
The state has said the new system was designed to address security concerns and better track child care attendance, while bringing several childcare functions into one platform.
But for providers like the Novasios, the question is whether those improvements will translate into payments arriving consistently and on time.
“I try to follow all their directions, but there are only so many directions you can follow,” Threasa said.
Providers worry about impact on families
The Novasios say delayed payments can create a difficult choice for small childcare providers.
If reimbursement problems continue, they say they may eventually have to reconsider whether they can continue accepting families who rely on Best Beginnings.
“It’s the families that are going to suffer,” Seth said.
That is especially concerning in communities where childcare slots can already be difficult to find.
For Novasio, accepting Best Beginnings families is part of why she expanded her center in the first place.
The state says processing times are improving. Providers like the Novasios say they are still waiting to see whether those improvements will make their way into their monthly payments.
