Act Now: Protect Great Start Collaboratives and Family Coalitions  

Michigan’s Legislature is still working on the fiscal year 2026 state budget, with key differences between House and Senate proposals yet to be resolved. One important issue is the future of Section 32p in the School Aid budget, which funds Great Start Collaboratives (GSCs), Great Start Family Coalitions (GSFCs), home visiting, and early literacy efforts.

The Governor and Senate propose maintaining this funding at $19.4 million. The House, however, eliminates Section 32p and moves the funds into general per-pupil allocations, with no guarantee the money will support early childhood services.

As lawmakers continue to deliberate the state budget, now is the time to speak up. Contact your state legislators and explain how your GSC and GSFC supports local early childhood systems that are developed with and for families, early childhood providers, businesses, and community leaders. Inform lawmakers on how elimination of this dedicated funding stream could weaken support for young children and families across Michigan.

Learn more about the impact of the proposed budget on GSCs and GSFCs and contact your state legislators to educate them about the importance of these collaboratives in Michigan. You can also follow the latest updates with ECIC’s FY26 budget tracker. 

Michigan Invests $2.6M in Family Child Care Networks 

Michigan is making a bold move to support home-based child care. MiLEAP has awarded over $2.6 million to expand and strengthen Family Child Care Network (FCCN) hubs across the state, building on a successful pilot with ECIC’s Child Care Innovation Fund. 

These provider-led networks offer vital resources, training, and peer support to help licensed and license-exempt home-based providers thrive. With 14 hubs now funded, including five new ones, this investment aims to reduce isolation, elevate quality, and ensure more families have access to sustainable, community-rooted care. These provider-driven networks offer help with licensing, business operations, training, and connecting families to resources.

“By connecting home-based providers and enhancing supports to them, we are enhancing quality and building more sustainable systems in communities across the state while advancing our commitment to ensuring young children and their families thrive.” said Alicia Guevara, ECIC CEO.  

Read the full press release to learn more about Michigan’s support home-based child care and connect with your local Family Child Care Network. 

Federal Budget Reconciliation Bill Will Impact Young Children and Families

The reduction in federal funds resulting from the federal budget reconciliation bill that was signed by the President on July 4th – coupled with anticipated reductions in Michigan’s general fund revenues – will present new challenges for the State to sustain critical investments in the earliest years.

“The federal budget reconciliation bill is going to create additional and unnecessary hardships for families with young children,” said Alicia Guevara, CEO of ECIC. “ECIC calls on the Michigan Legislature to pass a budget that prioritizes the needs of families with young children, particularly those who are most impacted by the devastating cuts in the federal budget bill. We must work together to preserve essential basic services like access to nutritious food, health care, and child care.” For resources and to read the complete ECIC statement, please visit our blog. 

For more information about the bill’s impacts on Medicaid access in Michigan, the Citizens Research Council briefing (Memo 1180, June 2025) outlines how federal cuts could reduce funding, jeopardizing coverage for hundreds of thousands of residents and straining the state’s health care system.

To learn more about how federal policy changes could affect food assistance in Michigan, a June 2025 memo from the State of Michigan highlights the potential loss of benefits for 1.47 million residents and increased state costs tied to SNAP program changes.

Together for Head Start: New Informative Webinar Series 

Start Early has launched “Together for Head Start,” a national webinar series designed to support Head Start champions, early childhood professionals, and community leaders. Running through December 2025, the series offers timely guidance and information about Head Start. 

This series comes at an important time for the Head Start Community, as programs across the country continue to navigate funding challenges, enrollment requirements and changing policy landscapes. The series is designed to support participants with tools, strategies, and understanding to ensure that Head Start continues to thrive and meet the needs of children and families.

Register now for a newly added webinar on 7/15 at 2pm ET, which will feature Start Early with other national partners titled “Unpacking the New HHS Notice on Public Benefits: What Programs Need to Know.” 

Learn more about the webinar series and sign up to attend one or all of the sessions. 

Parent Leader Spotlight

Think Babies Michigan is powered by the voices and experiences of passionate parent leaders from across the state. These volunteers bring lived experience, invaluable insight, and deep commitment to ensuring that every baby and toddler in Michigan has the opportunity to thrive. We invite you to visit the Parent Leaders page to see how these parents are making a difference and how you can too. 

Get Involved

Getting Connected 

Regional Child Care Coalitions (RCCCs) are growing child care supply at the community level! These Coalitions bring together all the people and organizations that are experiencing child care problems: parents, child care business owners and employers, municipalities, economic development organizations, businesses, and early childhood leaders to design solutions that work to address the root causes of child care problems.  RCCCs are building child care that meets unique regional needs in partnership with ECIC’s Child Care Innovation Fund and other funders who are investing in common-sense solutions to grow the child care supply we need in Michigan. Learn more about the Coalition serving your region and see how you can get involved.  

Infant Safe Sleep and Breastfeeding Webinar Series this Summer 

The State of Michigan is hosting a three-part webinar series that will discuss how infant safe sleep and breastfeeding work together.

• The first webinar will cover the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines on infant safe sleep and breastfeeding, as well as other professional guidelines, such as those from the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. The webinar will also address how to have conversations with families about breastfeeding and infant safe sleep, including strategies for risk reduction.
• The second webinar offers an opportunity for professionals to share how they support a family’s ability to meet their breastfeeding goals while practicing safe sleep.
• In the third webinar, hear from breastfeeding families on their lived experiences as they share methods that helped them to successfully meet their breastfeeding goals and practice safe sleep.

You can learn more and register for these webinars on the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services website.