The Bulletin

February 2024

Child Care Innovation Spreads Across MI According to 2023 Impact Report from ECIC’s Child Care Innovation Fund  

Since its inception in 2021, ECIC’s Child Care Innovation Fund has collaborated with national, state, regional, and community partners to design, pilot, and scale common-sense business, workforce, and financing solutions that expand equitable access to high quality, affordable child care for working families. The Innovation Fund’s second annual Impact Report features the Fund’s investment in state-wide child care innovations, and how the Fund is partnering with other sectors to address MI’s child care crisis. In FY23, the Innovation Fund secured over $15 million in grants. These funds, so far, have supported:  

• 16 Regional Child Care Planning Coalitions 
• 9 Family Child Care Network Hubs  
• 14 Regional early care and education registered apprenticeship programs.

Check out the 2023 Impact Report to learn more about the child care innovation work that is underway in your region!

FEDERAL

Congress Avoided a Government Shutdown, Now What?

On Thursday, January 19, the U.S. Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown by passing a short-term spending bill, however, the threat of another shutdown and their same budget disagreements remain. The current short-term spending bill that Congress passed only avoids furloughing government employees and the shutdown of federally funded programs until early March.  

Let your policymakers know what WIC, affordable child care, and the enhanced Child Care Tax Credit mean to your family and the families you work with as Congress revisits how much agencies and programs will receive before program funding is cut-off on March 1 and March 8. 

The House and Senate are far apart on domestic spending, including on many programs that serve children and families. 

Baby advocates are watching closely as:  

• The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is facing a $1 billion shortfall in 2024, which could lead to about 2 million young children and pregnant and postpartum adults being turned away from the program by September. 
• Emergency funding for child care is not on the table now, and increases to existing federal programs supporting child care are not guaranteed. 
• Signs are starting to emerge from the Hill that improvements in the Child Tax Credit could be included in a tax deal, potentially in time to apply to the 2023 tax year, but the exact nature of the changes is unclear. 

Think Babies Michigan Parent Leader Spotlight - Meghan S.

Think Babies Michigan (TBMI) is excited to share another Parent Spotlight – a series celebrating the parents leading the TBMI initiative and working to build a stronger, more inclusive prenatal-to-three system for Michigan’s youngest. This month, we are shining a light on Meghan S., a mother of two, passionate about improving services for new parents and children 0-3.

Early Childhood Advocates' Corner

State of the State Address 2024

Governor Whitmer delivered the State of the State address on January 24, foreshadowing several of her administration’s policy and FY25 budget priorities for the upcoming year. Here are some early childhood policy and budget highlights from the State of the State. 

Caring for MI Family Tax Credit. The Governor unveiled a proposal for a new tax credit that would provide up to $5,000 to unpaid caregivers who are looking after aging and sick relatives. It would cover caregiving expenses such as nursing and respite care, counseling, and transportation. The credit would provide financial relief to parents caring for children with special health needs. 

Pre-K for All. Expanding preschool access has been an ongoing priority for the Governor, and in her State of the State address she called on the legislature to pass a budget that would meet her administration’s goal of making free preschool universally available to all four-year-olds in Michigan. The Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP), Michigan’s free preschool program, is currently available to four-year-olds whose family income falls at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, and for some families with incomes up to 400% of federal poverty level. The proposed expansion would remove the income eligibility requirement, making GSRP available to all 118,000 4-year-olds in the state regardless of their household income.

Get Involved: In the Community

Public Comment Request: Race and Ethnicity Data Collection Standard

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is seeking your feedback on how MDHHS collects race and ethnicity data to help reflect the diversity in the State of Michigan. They are seeking input on a proposal, endorsed by Think Babies Michigan, to add Middle Eastern/Northern African (MENA) as a racial data collection category. This would make it easier for the state to gather information about the unique needs of MENA individuals and for advocates to monitor whether social service and public health resources are being equitably distributed to MENA children and families. 

Please take a moment to fill out this brief survey.

New Resource: Guidance & Best Practices: Parent Leader Compensation Scale 

Does your organization or state agency work with family and parent leaders? ECIC’s National Center for Family & Parent Leadership has created a FREE resource with guidelines to support organizations to adequately compensate families and parents for their efforts and leadership.  

Family leaders often serve in different types of roles that require varying levels of engagement. Therefore, as a best practice, compensation should be aligned with the level of collaboration and expertise that the family and parent leader is contributing. The new resource is based on the National Center’s 3 Pillars of Engagement.

Recruiting & Engaging Fathers as Parent Leaders Webinar Available  

Did you miss the National Center for Family & Parent Leadership’s webinar, Recruiting and Engaging Fathers as Parent Leaders? The webinar is now available on the National Center’s website, parentleadership.org! Tune into an insightful conversation with fatherhood advocates, Adnoris "Bo" Torres, Kevin Lavender Jr., and Erik Vecere, as they share tips and their experiences engaging fathers in early childhood systems change work across Michigan and nationwide.  

Provider's Corner 

Wellbeing and Mindfulness for the Early Childhood Systems Workforce 

The Wellbeing and Mindfulness for the Early Childhood Systems Workforce hosted by MiLEAP is a five-session series for systems-level professionals (e.g., LARA consultants, Great Start Collaborative Coordinators, GSRP Early Childhood Consultants, etc.) who serve child care programs, infants, young children, and families, to reflect and learn from one another’s work.  

Each session will include time to engage in facilitated, topic-oriented reflective discussions with peers to discuss challenges, strategies, celebrations, and insights. Specific topics will include approaches to enhancing wellness, self-awareness, compassion fatigue, resilience, and more.  

Group sessions facilitated by Kristin Tenney-Blackwell are 8-9 a.m. every Wednesday beginning February 7.  

For questions, contact Mary Mackrain at mackrainm@michigan.gov 

February GSQ Quality Connection

Application is Now Open for Inclusive Entrepreneurship Support Grant with Child Care Focus

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) application for the Inclusive Entrepreneurship Support Grant program is officially open. This is a highly competitive funding program created to provide inclusive small business support in the various strategic economic competitiveness categories. Applications close at midnight, on February 23, 2024. Click the button below to read more and apply.