Partnerships are essential!
Mississippi LIFT is a Learning Investment for Tomorrow.
We are collaborating with exceptional partners to enhance early childhood care and development across Mississippi! Discover more about our partners below.
The CFM offers ongoing support to the Early Childhood Councils (ECCs), established by the CFM in communities across the state, through parent outreach and education, identifying funding to sustain the work of each council, providing logistical and technical support, and any other guidance that may be needed. The CFM added eight new ECCs to the state this year (24 total) to expand the depth and breadth of Early Care and Education. The ECCs assess the needs of their local communities and develop projects to address them.
In addition to identifying funding opportunities for the ECCs, the PDG-B5 enabled the hiring of a Sustainability Coordinator to explore funding opportunities for the collective work of the grant partners beyond the three-year allotment. The CFM works with an Economist consultant and a Scholar in Residence to determine best practices and identify and communicate the economic impacts of the investment in early care and education. Additionally, the CFM is currently working with law students to conduct a national landscape analysis of health care requirements with a particular focus upon development screening and early care and education.
The CFM contracts with Elucidata, LLC to complete data-related tasks. Through this subcontract, Elucidata has conducted the needs assessment, continues to work on a prototype of an integrated data system, Child Care Access Tracking Systems (CATS), and produces visualization of data on a number of child care variables. This type of ad-hoc data production enables the broader MS LIFT team to make data-driven decisions in programming.
The Mississippi Department of Education, Office of Early Childhood Education partners with early learning professionals in local school districts, child care centers, Head Start centers, and families to provide support and resources to improve the quality of the early learning experience and outcomes for children in pre-kindergarten.
MECIC collaborates with families, early childhood professionals, and communities to support the inclusion of young children with disabilities through professional development, classroom support, resource provision, and advocacy. MECIC is grounded in data driven decision making that promotes high-quality early childhood inclusion within Mississippi’s Quality Support System.
The Evaluation and Research Group (ERG) of the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University is providing evaluation support for the PDG-5 work that is occurring across the state. The primary task of the ERG is to develop and implement a system to track the various performance metrics of the project partners. These data will be used by project administrators for continuous quality improvement, as well as monitoring of project processes.
The Systems Change Lab (SCL), housed in Mississippi State University’s Social Science Research Center, is a team of multi-disciplinary research scientists and associates who address complex societal problems through data collection and analysis, policy research, training, education, facilitative practices, and systems change methodologies. For the MS LIFT project, the SCL is assisting with the Strategic Plan, creating a tool-kit for other states featuring the MS Quality Support System, building the MS LIFT website, and working with a state-level team to develop early childhood educator wage and salary scales.
The Mississippi State Department of Health’s mission is to protect and advance the health, well-being and safety of everyone in Mississippi. The Mississippi State Department of Health establishes standards, recommendations and regulations for health and care facilities, and licenses facilities and practitioners of health-related professions that affect public health including licensed early childhood education centers.
The Mississippi LIFT Resource & Referral Network (R&R) at MSU Extension provides access to developmentally appropriate educational resources, referral support, family engagement activities, and more! This project is funded through the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS).
Lending Library – Each R&R site has a lending library with a variety of learning materials and toys for early childhood professionals, children, and families. Items can be checked out, at no cost, for up to 14 days!
Community Events – Monthly community events at each site provide a fun and educational experience. Events are free and open to the public.
Family Support – The R&R network connects families with child care options and promotes educational opportunities for workforce development.
Maker Space – Our locations offer a maker space for providers to create die-cuts, laminate materials, print, and more.
The mission of Jackson State University, an HBCU and comprehensive urban research university, is to provide quality teaching, research and service at the baccalaureate, masters, specialist, and doctoral levels to diverse populations of students and communities using various modalities to ensure that they are technologically-advanced, ethical, global leaders who think critically and can address societal problems and compete effectively.
Delta Health Alliance is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that is changing health care and education in the Mississippi Delta by improving access to health services, promoting healthier lifestyles, and expanding educational opportunities.
The Choctaw have lived for centuries in the Southeastern United States, largely in the area that was to become the modern-day state of Mississippi. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are the descendants of those who refused to leave their homeland during the Trail of Tears. The Tribe is the only federally recognized Native American tribe in the State. It is a sovereign nation with more than 11,000 Tribal members, and more than 35,000 acres of fee and trust lands in Mississippi and Tennessee. Our Visitors section offers much more information about the Mississippi Choctaw.
The WELS EXCHANGE HUB provides comprehensive, flexible services for early learning systems. WELS serves leaders at multiple points, providing effective software and integrating data into a streamlined, coherent management system. WELS establishes access portals for various functions and types of use, building software and/or interfacing with existing software to accomplish the services you need. Data analysis and reporting tools support the span of early learning management functions.