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Arkansas approved to offer child care help to child care workers, adoptive parents | Camden News

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Arkansas approved to offer child care help to child care workers, adoptive parents | Camden News


Arkansas has received approval to extend financial assistance with child care costs to employees of child care centers and to foster parents who have become adoptive parents, the state Department of Education announced last week.

The state’s Child Care Assistance program, funded through a federal block grant, primarily provides assistance to families earning up to 85% of the state’s median household income.

According to a chart on the Education Department’s website, that cutoff is about $5,274 a month, or $63,288 a year, for a family of four.

Regardless of income, however, help is now also available for workers at child care centers that participate in the Child Care Assistance Program, as well as foster parents who become adoptive parents.

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While income guidelines are waived for people who fall in those two categories, income must be verified. Households that declare assets of $1 million or more are not eligible.

The expansion was made possible by a waiver recently approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to an Education Department news release.

“I’m proud that Arkansas is the most pro-life state in the country, but being pro-life doesn’t end once a child is born,” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in the release.

“Arkansas will soon be one of the few states in the country that offers child care support for adoptive parents and child care employees. This is huge for families struggling with child care costs – and the exact kind of pro-life policies my administration will support.”

Paul Lazenby, executive director of Arkansas Early Childhood Association, said the expansion “will be just a huge benefit to all of our childcare teachers and staff.”

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“It’s very exciting,” he said. “It is a huge benefit to teachers who are working in childcare, but they also need childcare for their own children.”

According to the Education Department, Arkansas receives a Child Care Development Block Grant of more than $100 million each year.

The LEARNS Act, the education overhaul championed by Sanders, transferred responsibility for administering the program to the Education Department from the Department of Human Services.

To be eligible for the assistance, parents, including child care workers and adoptive parents, must work or participate in education or job skills training for at least 30 hours per week. The child care must be provided by one of the more than 1,400 child care facilities participating in the program.

My Ly is a Report for America Corps member. Information for this article was contributed by Cynthia Howell of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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Arkansas driver’s licenses and state IDs now available in Apple Wallet

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Arkansas driver’s licenses and state IDs now available in Apple Wallet


Arkansans can now present their driver’s licenses and state identification cards on mobile devices using Apple Wallet, state finance officials announced Wednesday.

The Department of Finance and Administration said Arkansans can use Apple Wallet to present their license or ID in person, online and in apps at select organizations, including at more than 250 Transportation Security



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Your Arkansas Driver’s License Can Now Live on Your iPhone

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Your Arkansas Driver’s License Can Now Live on Your iPhone


IDEMIA Public Security North America and the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration’s Division of Driver Services and Motor Vehicles have launched Arkansas driver’s licenses and state IDs in Apple Wallet, allowing residents to securely store and use their credentials on an iPhone or Apple Watch.

The new feature gives Arkansans the ability to present their identification at participating businesses and venues, at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints in more than 250 airports, and online or within apps when age or identity verification is required.

The launch builds on Arkansas’ ongoing efforts to expand digital identification options. In March 2025, the state introduced the Arkansas Mobile ID app, and officials say adding IDs to Apple Wallet offers residents another secure and convenient way to access their credentials.

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“We’re proud to build on our partnership with the Arkansas DFA’s Division of Driver Services and Motor Vehicles, expanding on the launch of the Arkansas Mobile ID app in March 2025. The launch of ID in Apple Wallet in the state provides Arkansas residents a new, secure way to store and present their digital credentials, with transparency and control over how their information is shared at the forefront,” said Rob Gardner, CEO, IDEMIA Civil Identity.

To add an Arkansas driver’s license or state ID to Apple Wallet, users can tap the plus sign at the top of the Wallet app on their iPhone, select “Driver’s License or State ID,” and follow the verification process.

Officials say privacy and security were central considerations in the rollout. Information stored in Apple Wallet is encrypted on a user’s device, and users control when and how their information is shared. When presenting an ID, only the information necessary to verify age or identity is provided.

Apple and the Arkansas Division of Driver Services and Motor Vehicles also do not receive information about when or where residents use their digital IDs.

The technology is also designed to make verification easier for businesses. Participating businesses can use IDEMIA’s Mobile ID Verify app to accept and verify mobile IDs directly from an iPhone without requiring customers to hand over their devices or use additional hardware.

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The launch marks another step toward broader adoption of digital credentials in Arkansas, giving residents a secure alternative to carrying a physical driver’s license or state ID while maintaining control over their personal information.

For information on the launch of IDs in Apple Wallet in Arkansas, click here.

READ ALSO: Adam O’Neal Stepping into Chancellor Role at UA-EACC



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Arkansas gymnatics coach Chris Brooks completes staff with hiring of Zan Jones | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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Arkansas gymnatics coach Chris Brooks completes staff with hiring of Zan Jones | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette


New Arkansas gymnastics coach Chris Brooks announced Monday the hiring of Zan Jones to complete his first staff, as well as the promotion of assistants Kyla Ross and Catelyn Branson.

Brooks succeeded his wife, Jordyn Wieber, on April 28 after Wieber stepped down.

Jones joins the Razorback after two seasons as an assistant coach at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas. The Pioneers won back-to-back Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics National Invitational Championship titles in 2025 and 2026 with Jones on staff. He has been named a Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association Division II assistant coach of the year three times, including this spring.

Jones also earned Midwest Independent Conference assistant coach of the year in both of his seasons at Texas Woman’s.

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Jones served as the Pioneers’ primary vault and uneven bars coach, and the team set a program record of 49.35 on the bars in March.

An Alabama alumnus, Jones served as a student manager for the Crimson Tide gymnastics team. He served a year at Talladega (Ala.) College in its inaugural season of gymnastics and spent time as a recreational and team coach at Trussville (Ala.) Academy of Gymnastics.

Brooks also promoted both Ross and Branson to the title of associate head coach. Ross, a former UCLA gymnast and Olympic gold medalist as part of Team USA in 2012, started at Arkansas as a volunteer assistant in 2022. Ross helped Arkansas produce program records on the balance beam in back-to-back years before taking over the vault squad, which set a program high 49.675 in 2026. 

The Razorbacks ranked as high as No. 2 on the vault last season and were never lower than No. 7. Senior transfer Morgan Price landed the first 10 in school history on the vault in February.

Branson returned to the Arkansas staff ahead of the 2025 season, helping lead the floor squad. In that time, Branson has led the Gymbacks to two of their top five best floor scores ever and Arkansas has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the country on floor in the last two seasons. In 2026, over 60% of the team’s scores on floor were 9.85 or better.

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Branson served as Lindenwood’s head coach from 2022-24, where she was named 2024 Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association South Central Region Coach of the Year and the Midwest Independent Conference Coach of the Year. She led the Lions to their second consecutive and fifth overall USAG national championship and seventh MIC title in 2024.

Branson had a prior stint at Arkansas from 2020 to 2022, in which time the Gymbacks ranked as high as third on beam and second on floor.



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