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Mississippi has some of the lowest standards for child care centers in the country and some of the weakest oversight. The Hechinger Report joined with the Clarion-Ledger to investigate how the state fails to serve all its children well, why it falls short and possible solutions. Our 18-month investigation revealed a child care system in Mississippi plagued by a lack of funding and support. We looked into low standards and pay for child care center employees, difficulties parents face in finding and paying for childcare, and years of legislative inaction in improving conditions for children. We highlighted solutions for the state, such as the Department of Defense's strong child care system, and investigated trends, such as frequent absences among child care center directors. In December, Mississippi officials said the state would adopt a host of new strategies meant to reform the system, many of them similar to the best practices we wrote about.