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MBST Solutions

MBST Solutions is a consulting firm focused on the development of family child care policies. These polices center the strengths of family child care providers, and connect policy and practice.

Mary Beth Salomone Testa brings more than 20 years of experience in team-building, advocacy, and policy development at the federal, state and local level. As a consultant, she offers strategic analysis, technical assistance, expert strengths-based facilitation and mobilization.

State allies can call on MBST to:

Support them in the assessment of existing policies for home-based providers - and the opportunities for flexibilities for states’ choices.

In particular, MBST has extensive expertise on child care licensing policy and practice, federal and state choices with the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and opportunities of the flexibilities of CCDBG and the CCDF State Plans.

Help them shape policies that support home-based ECE providers.

The work of systems change includes exploring policy reform, behavioral shifts and investment strategies. It also includes understanding how investments and smart policies can be coupled with focusing on approaches that center strengths and relationships based on mutual respect when implementing program and policy change.

Support them in engaging provider-led practices.

Effective family child care engagement must be rooted in strategy and respect, and MBST can help Alliance state allies engage effectively. Together we can center community voices, backed by data and policy analysis, to build a coordinated message about challenges and the path to solutions.

Support their coalition strategies for a unified voice on common goals.

MBST creates timely, meaningful and engaging opportunities to bring people together, and translate what we heard into clear next steps to advance the organization and coalition goals. This can include meeting design, facilitation, and materials to support a unified advocacy message.

On the Ground:

  • In Arkansas, MBST has provided extensive support for advocacy for family child care, from facilitating discussions with practitioners on the ground, to helping draw inspiration from what has worked in other states, to guiding them through the process of translating all of the work into a bill.

“Mary Beth Testa has been an invaluable resource to our advocacy work. Our bill honors the unique needs of family child care providers in our state, and we just could not have been more grateful to work with such a brilliant mind. We will continue to lean on her as a resource in the future.”

Olivia Gardner, Education Policy Director, Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families