State to pay out for child care quality program invoices after provider complaints 

The New Hampshire Bureau of Child Development and Head Start Collaboration announced to child care providers in the Granite Steps for Quality program that the state will fulfill late or unsubmitted quarterly incentive invoices from last year. 

Granite Steps for Quality, or GSQ, is New Hampshire’s quality recognition and improvement system that allows early education programs to show they operate above the state’s minimum standards. As a participant, programs receive coaching, training, and quarterly and annual monetary incentives. 

In December, the Bulletin reported the bureau said it would not pay out for GSQ work if providers submitted their incentive invoices after the deadline. Providers expressed frustration, given that they had completed the necessary work to earn the incentive, and that the money helped prevent programs from raising tuition and offset expenses such as staff salaries and benefits. 

A child care program in GSQ can receive between $2,400 and $5,700 a quarter, depending on the type of program and its size. Without the payouts, providers said they would have to make up the shortfall by raising program tuition. 

In a letter sent to providers on Mar. 20, Jessica Carver, bureau chief of Child Development and Head Start, announced that after “careful review and consideration of available funding sources,” the decision was reversed. 

Carver said that during the pandemic, the bureau was more lenient about invoice deadlines, but the transition to hard deadlines was not “communicated uniformly” to providers. Carver became bureau chief in November and said she has been hearing about the issues since she started.  

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“We’re running around all the time when you’re working in a really fast child care environment, and communication can easily be lost,” Carver said during a meeting with the child care community on Thursday. “It’s hard to get everybody on the same page all the time, but that is a value that I have.” 

Back pay is available for providers in GSQ during the three payment periods between January and September 2025. Child care businesses are responsible for determining which payments they have not paid for and will be able to submit a new one-time invoice for the back payments due on April 30. 

Carver urged providers to exercise patience, as all work related to GSQ is done manually because the bureau lacks an upgraded system to process the information. Payments could take around 45 days to hit business bank accounts. 

“I’ve been in that space of dealing with children, families, college students, and being a parent myself,” Carver said Thursday. “We’re all pulled in so many different directions. It’s so hard for adults these days, but if we can share ideas and just work towards that kind of accountability, we’ll end up in a better space.” 

Providers have previously accused the bureau and the Department of Health and Human Services of poor communication about the invoices. To prevent future issues, the bureau will send out reminders via email and through New Hampshire Connections.

Carver said “under no circumstances” will late invoices be accepted moving forward.