A new emergency work group will consider stopgap tricks to keep a program that covers child care costs for low-income families afloat in the face of dwindling balances and uncertain federal funding.

The Arkansas Early Childhood Commission met Tuesday morning for the second time this month , an unusually demanding schedule for an advisory body that usually meets only three to five times a year. But there are only 10 days left to go before the state cuts reimbursement rates significantly for child care providers accepting School Readiness Assistance vouchers , and child care providers across the state say the cuts could put them out of business.

Paid for with federal money, the vouchers cover child care for roughly 15,000 Arkansas babies and young children so low-income parents can be

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