The Bulletin

October 2023

ECIC and TalentFirst Publish Proposal for Early Care and Education Wage Scale

Just 1% of Michigan’s early care and education workforce earns enough to support the average family of four. Michigan’s early educators have faced these poverty-level wages for decades, resulting in a declining early care and education workforce and child care shortages. 

In partnership with CEO alliance TalentFirst, ECIC announces its new report “Balancing the Scales: A Proposal for a Systemwide Wage Scale to Address Michigan’s Early Childhood Education Crisis,” examining wages and workforce trends in 16 regions statewide to propose solutions to Michigan’s child care crisis. 

Learn more about our partnership with TalentFirst and the report!

FEDERAL

Could a Farm Bill Help Boost Child Care Access and Affordability in Rural Areas? 

Nationwide, 74% of farm families have experienced child care challenges over the past five years. A new bill named the Expanding Childcare in Rural America Act has been introduced to direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development agency to prioritize programs that improve “the availability, quality and cost of child care in agricultural and rural communities” through a variety of programs, including direct loans, loan guarantees and grants to develop or improve essential public services and facilities across rural areas.  

Learn more about how ECIC’s Child Care Innovation Fund has supported rural communities to increase access to quality child care and what the impact of direct funding looks like in action.  

STATE

Medicaid Expansion for Immigrant Children and Pregnant People 

The House Committee on Insurance and Financial Services has just moved Michigan one step closer to achieving ECIC’s Moonshot Goal of “Improv[ing] access to health care, including social emotional health.”  

On October 12, 2023 the Committee voted in favor of House Bill 4740, sponsored by Representative Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn).

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• If it becomes law, this bill will eliminate the five-year waiting period during which income-eligible, legally residing immigrant children (prenatal to 21 years old) and pregnant people are unable to enroll in Medicaid and the state’s children’s health insurance program MI Child.
• It’s estimated that approximately 8,000 Michiganders, including 3,000 to 4,000 children, would benefit directly from this policy change though increased access to medical treatment and preventative health services like perinatal care for expecting parents, child immunizations, and well child visits.
• Funding for this policy change is already in the Fiscal Year 2024 state budget thanks to advocacy by state partners on the Think Babies Michigan coalition, including the Michigan Council on Maternal and Child Health and the Michigan League for Public Policy.  

In 2024, the Think Babies Michigan coalition plans to partner with community-based organizations and parents to help get the word out to affected families about this policy change and to ensure that families’ lived experience informs implementation of the policy. To ensure that parent experience is at the center if its work on this issue, Think Babies is actively recruiting parent leaders* who are U.S. immigrants to join the coalition. There are several ways in which parent leaders can engage and lead within the coalition, and most meetings are held virtually.

The coalition provides reimbursements to parent leaders for their time and child care expenses while attending meetings, as well as travel reimbursements when applicable. If you or a parent you know fits this description and is interested in learning more about becoming a parent leader with Think Babies Michigan, please reach out to Kelly Walden, Policy and Outreach Associate, at kwalden@ecic4kids.org.

*ECIC recognizes that for many children, the term “parent” must be broadly defined to include parent, stepparent, grandparent, legal guardian, caregiver, or a combination.

In Our Community: Get Involved 

Webinar on Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood – PLUS 

Friday, Oct. 20

3 p.m.

Join MDE for an informational webinar on Friday, October 20 at 3 p.m. to hear more about MCCYN-Plus and how you may be able to participate! 

Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood-PLUS (MCCYN-PLUS) initiative launches in Michigan on Oct. 23 to make it easier for military families to access and afford quality child care from community providers.  

Licensed child care programs can now participate in MCCYN-PLUS based on their rating in the state’s quality rating and improvement program. This is an expansion of the existing Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood, which requires national accreditation from the U.S. Department of Defense. Under the new PLUS initiative, child care programs in Michigan can participate if they have a license rated 3 stars, enhancing quality level, or higher. 

Meeting ID: 240 262 153 193 

Passcode: pvsRrF 

Support Paid Family & Medical Leave

Think Babies Michigan has adopted Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) as a policy priority and now you can too! If you are not familiar with the (PFML) policy Michigan is considering passing, you can learn more in this two-page brief about its potential impact. Show your or your organization's support by filling out the short form below ASAP to officially join the Michigan Paid Leave for All Coalition. 

Input Needed: Child Care Licensing Rules

Submit By: Tuesday, Oct. 31

Recruiting & Engaging Fathers as Parent Leaders 

Thursday, Jan. 18

Noon-1 p.m.

Our partners at LARA invite families, stakeholders, and providers to give feedback on current child care licensing rules! Your insights help LARA adapt regulations to better serve the needs of children, families, and caregivers. Submit your feedback by Oct. 31.

For community partners, stakeholders, or anyone with an interest in child care: share feedback



For child care providers: share feedback

Dads matter! Save the date for ECIC's National Center for Family & Parent Leadership webinar on January 18 Noon-1 p.m. on Recruiting & Engaging Fathers as Parent Leaders. Too often, early childhood programs and systems leave dads out, excluding them either by overlooking them or undervaluing their abilities, contributions, and interest. Join this webinar to learn about effective ways to recruit and engage fathers as you work to embed family and parent leadership.

Provider's Corner 

Introducing the Infant and Toddler Quality Improvement (ITQI) Grant

Do you have a licensed child care program in Michigan (either home-based or center-based) that serves infants and/or toddlers who qualify for the child development and care subsidy?  

Starting this fall, Michigan will award Infant Toddler Quality Improvement Grants (up to $18,000 per licensed slot) to support eligible child care programs working toward three goals: 

• Increase equitable access to high quality infant and toddler care 
• Increase pay equity for the infant and toddler workforce
• Improve quality in early learning using an equity lens 

Fill out the interest form by Oct. 30 to see if you’re eligible!  

Questions? Contact us: itqigrants@ecic4kids.org.