Ellington

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Opponents of a plan to require parents to use a finger scanner to sign children in and out of federally subsidized child care say the state hasn't proceeded properly.

At a hearing Wednesday before Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Lisa Owens, a child care center owner who is challenging the rule contended that the state's economic impact statement was too faulty to let the Department of Human Services move forward. The hearing is set to continue at 9 a.m. Thursday. It's unclear when Owens will rule.

The statement was required as part of DHS' rule-making process, and Owens ordered the agency last year to restart its process to make the rules after it didn't issue an economic impact statement.

Delores Suel, who owns two centers in Jackson, sued to block the rule. She now wants Owens to declare the statement isn't good enough to meet the requirements of state law.

"They contend this economic impact statement is sufficient," said Lisa Ross, Suel's lawyer. "We contend it is not."

The finger scanning machines will be required starting Oct. 1 for 18,000 children whose care is subsidized by federal grants that help low-income parents pay for of care while working. The state currently has a waiting list of 8,000 children for the federal vouchers. Parents must sign up by Aug. 30, unless Owens rules against the plan.

Ross questioned Jill Dent, the DHS official who oversees the program, for three hours. Doug Miracle, a lawyer for DHS, though, said Ross' sustained focus on the nitty-gritty of the statement goes beyond what state law requires.

"Details, specific accuracy in the economic impact statement, is not required by the law," Miracle said.

Dent said she initially didn't believe that an economic impact statement was needed because centers could drop out of the program if they didn't want to participate. However, many child care center owners say they're dependent on the vouchers to make enough revenue to stay open. Dent said that after talking to a lawyer, she decided an economic impact statement was necessary, because some home providers had to acquire a traditional land telephone line to continue participating.

A key point of contention has been the state's claim that it will save $15 million to $18 million, which will allow it to clear some of the 8,000 children currently on a waiting list. Dent testified Wednesday that she believes that many child care operators are charging the state for days when children are not present.

"We feel there are more occurrences of false attendance claims than what we are able to prove," she testified.

Operators, though, are already financially pinched because of low state payment rates and falling federal funding, and fear the state will drive them out of business.

When Louisiana switched to a finger-scan system, it reduced spending by $36 million. But Ross noted and Dent conceded that Louisiana had changed its method of paying centers to slash reimbursements, something Dent says Mississippi doesn't want to do.

"We wanted to keep our payment policies the same so that providers would make enough money to pay their staff," Dent testified.