Mississippi Early offers training and technical assistance in all aspects of program management, early childhood services, family and community services, fiscal oversight, and Federal grantee requirements.
Mississippi Early (MSE) was originated by nationally celebrated fiscal consultant Janice Stephens with the support of well-known content expert, Jim Belanger in the fall of 2017. Both have been CFO’s in their previous business endeavors and worked closely with the Federal monitoring process for many years. We have a highly experienced team of independent training and technical assistance consultants from across the nation.
The MSE consultancy team has a strong background and expertise in Head Start, Early Head Start, Early Head Start Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP), and other State-funded Early Childhood services. We provide practical examples of how regulations need to be applied in everyday program operations.
Our passion to make a difference for children and families is the driving force behind the formation of MSE.
Janice Stephens, CEO
Janice Stephens, an independent financial consultant, comes with over forty-five years of fiscal, administrative, management and public relations skills in government, non-profit, and public accounting environments. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Mississippi State University. In the earlier years, Janice served as an auditor and office manager for a Certified Public Accounting firm. During the last twenty-three years, she served as a Fiscal Consultant for non-profit organizations with an emphasis on compliance requirements for Federal funding.
Janice is nationally recognized for her financial expertise in assisting a variety of organizations with establishing and implementing effective financial management systems. She served as Co-Coordinator of the National Center Program Management and Fiscal Operations’ (NCPMFO) Fiscal Consultant Initiative for the Office of Head Start for three years. Through the Initiative, Janice provided fiscal expertise for onsite training and technical support to strengthen financial management systems for sustainability to over 100 grantees nationally. She is currently the founder and CEO of Mississippi Early, a nationally known consulting company providing support to Head Start grantees.