4.5 Supply Building

Building a supply of high-quality child care that meets the needs and preferences of parents participating in CCDF is necessary to meet CCDF’s core purposes. Lead Agencies must support parent choice by providing some portion of direct services via grants or contracts, including at a minimum for children in underserved geographic areas, infants and toddlers, and children with disabilities. 4.5.1 Child care services available through grants or contracts Does the Lead Agency provide direct child care services through grants or contracts for child care slots? [ ] Yes, statewide. Describe how the Lead Agency ensures that parents who enroll with a provider who has a grant or contract have choices when selecting a provider: [ ] Yes, in some jurisdictions, but not statewide. Describe how many jurisdictions use grants or contracts for child care slots and how the Lead Agency ensures that parents who enroll with a provider who has a grant or contract have choices when selecting a provider: [x] No. If no, describe any Lead Agency plans to provide direct child care services through grants and contracts for child care slots: While Michigan has piloted infant/toddler contracts we plan to request a two year waiver for the contract/grant requirements to ensure we are building the required contracts to meet the needs and increase supply. We will be submitting the waiver as the changes that will need to be made will take legislative and technology changes as well a training plan to ensure that agency staff understand this change. It is anticipated that the agency will fully implement grants and contracts by August 2026. If no, skip to question 4.5.2. i. If yes, identify the populations of children served through grants or contracts for child care slots (check all that apply). For each population selected, identify the number of slots allocated through grants or contracts for direct service of children receiving CCDF. [ ] Children with disabilities. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Infants and toddlers. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children in underserved geographic areas. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children needing non-traditional hour care. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] School-age children. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children experiencing homelessness. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children in urban areas. Percent of CCDF children served in an average month: [ ] Children in rural areas. Percent of CCDF children served in an average month: [ ] Other populations. If checked, describe: ii. If yes, how are rates for slots funded by grants and contracts determined by the Lead Agency? 4.5.2 Care in the child’s home (in-home care) The Lead Agency must allow for in-home care (i.e., care provided in the child’s own home) but may limit its use. Will the Lead Agency limit the use of in-home care in any way? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If yes, what limits will the Lead Agency set on the use of in-home care? Check all that apply. i. [ ] Restricted based on the minimum number of children in the care of the in- home provider to meet the Fair Labor Standards Act (minimum wage) requirements. Describe: ii. [x] Restricted based on the in-home provider meeting a minimum age requirement. Describe: 18-year-old minimum. iii. [x] Restricted based on the hours of care (i.e., certain number of hours, non­ traditional work hours). Describe: License exempt related and unrelated providers may bill and be paid a maximum of 2,016 total hours per two week pay period for all children in care. iv. [ ] Restricted to care by relatives. (A relative provider must be at least 18 years of age based on the definition of eligible child care provider.) Describe: v. [ ] Restricted to care for children with special needs or a medical condition. Describe: vi. [ ] Restricted to in-home providers that meet additional health and safety requirements beyond those required by CCDF. Describe: vii. [ ] Other. Describe: 4.5.3 Shortages in the supply of child care Lead Agencies must identify shortages in the supply of child care providers that meet parents’ needs and preferences. What child care shortages has the Lead Agency identified in the State or Territory, and what is the plan to address the child care shortages? a. In infant and toddler programs: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: Michigan State University (MSU) has been working with MiLEAP to map Michigan’s Child Care desert data, illustrating the number of children competing for one slot in a nearby licensed child care facility suitable for their age. An area having three or more children competing for one slot is considered a child care desert. These maps are broken down by age group (Infant/Toddler - 0-2; Preschool - 3-5; and School-age (6-11). MSU used 2022 American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau to estimate child population and LARA data to populate the available child care slots in each Michigan County. ii. Method of tracking progress: MSU also led the mapping project for the Caring for MI Future (CFMF) statewide child care initiative focused on increasing and expanding child care programs in Michigan. As the project and dedicated resources concluded, MSU was able to map where new and expanded center and home-based child care businesses are located, demonstrating the proportion of the programs that were open or expanded in areas of the state that have the most urgent need for child care. In addition, the maps illustrated the capacity that resulted from new and expanded businesses, highlighting the age groups served with the newly created spaces. These maps supported Michigan in understanding the progress made in addressing the areas in our state that were considered child care deserts at the beginning of the CFMF project and supported us in identifying the areas in the state that continue to struggle to increase capacity in infant- toddler care. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes During the Caring for MI Future initiative, 22 Family Child Care Networks (FCCNs) were established, which include 420 home-based child care providers or business owners. These FCCNs focus on connecting or directly offering the members the support that they need to be successful educators and business owners. The FCCNs are representative of, and built for, the communities of home-based child care business owners, working to build trust with the business owners and to support meeting their needs in culturally competent ways, which encourages engagement and participation in the networks (2 networks serve refugee providers; 3 serve Arabic-speaking business owners; and 3 serve Spanish-speaking business owners). Within the first year, the FCCNs supported 32 home-based child care business owners to become licensed, 14 to become license-exempt and are supporting an additional 40 through the licensure process. In addition, 43 Network members started participating in Great Start to Quality, 33 began accepting child care subsidies and 24 began participating in the child and adult care food program. It is our intention to continue to expand and support these networks moving forward. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? During the Caring for MI Future initiative, 16 Regional Child Care Planning Coalitions, predominantly led by Economic Development Organizations, were developed throughout the state, bringing together cross-sector stakeholders to understand the child care challenges and their impact on economic development, and create actionable, powerful strategies to address the child care challenges in their regions. Their work will continue, as the Coalitions begin to implement their strategies working to support the creation and maintenance of child care centers (and home-based care) in areas that have been identified as the most urgent in their region. In addition, MiLEAP is preparing to lead a robust pre-K expansion that was announced by Governor Whitmer in her State of the State address in January of 2024, that will make state-funded pre-K accessible to all families regardless of income. This investment will strengthen and dramatically expand child care centers throughout the state. b. In different regions of the State or Territory: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: In addition and in coordination with the Child Care Desert maps, MSU led the mapping projects for the Caring for MI Future statewide child care initiative, a $100m investment focused on helping child care entrepreneurs open 1,000 new or expanded child care programs by the end of 2024. The project began by identifying and categorizing counties in the state as Urgent or High Need by looking at the county’s staff shortage, capacity (number of children competing for one slot) and child poverty rate. The staff shortage data came from providers who received COVID Child Care Relief Fund Grants. The capacity data, which ranged from 0-5, came from the Great Start to Quality provider database, as of September 2022. The child poverty rate, number of children under 5 and number of children under 12 came from the American Community Survey 2015-2019 5-year data. ii. Method of tracking progress: The Caring for MI Future projects tracked and reported progress on each of their initiatives (addressing space, start-up funding, staffing and business sustainability supports), including monthly data from LARA about the number of new and expanded licenses that were issued that month. The Caring for MI Future project concludes at the end of September 2024 and project data is being collected and used to create new maps to demonstrate progress and areas needing additional and on-going support. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes? The organizations that are leading the Family Child Care Network (FCCN) and Regional Planning Coalition strategies mentioned above represent multiple counties. The FCCNs bring together home-based providers within regions and provide support to license exempt and unlicensed providers to become licensed family child care home providers, as well as supporting new home based child care owners to become established. The Regional Planning Coalitions are working to identify locations and provide support for child care entrepreneurs to successfully start a child care business in multiple locations within their regions. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? The organizations that are leading the Regional Planning Coalition strategy mentioned above represent multiple counties and will be supporting new and expanding child care centers to be successful as well as supporting the pre-K expansion initiative. c. In care for special populations: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: Michigan State University (MSU) has been working with MiLEAP to map Michigan’s Child Care desert data, illustrating the number of children competing for one slot in a nearby licensed child care facility suitable for their age. An area having three or more children competing for one slot is considered a child care desert. These maps are broken down by age group (Infant/Toddler - 0-2; Preschool - 3-5; and School-age (6-11). MSU used 2022 American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau to estimate child population and LARA data to populate the available child care slots in each Michigan County. ii. Method of tracking progress: MSU also led the mapping project for the Caring for MI Future (CFMF) statewide child care initiative focused on increasing and expanding child care programs in Michigan. As the project and dedicated resources concluded, MSU was able to map where new and expanded center and home-based child care businesses are located, demonstrating the proportion of the programs that were open or expanded in areas of the state that have the most urgent need for child care. In addition, the maps illustrated the capacity that resulted from new and expanded businesses, highlighting the age groups served with the newly created spaces. These maps supported Michigan in understanding the progress made in addressing the areas in our state that were considered child care deserts at the beginning of the CFMF project and supported us in identifying the areas in the state that continue to struggle to increase capacity in infant- toddler care. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes? During the Caring for MI Future initiative, 22 Family Child Care Networks (FCCNs) were established, which include 420 home-based child care providers or business owners. These FCCNs focus on connecting or directly offering the members the support that they need to be successful educators and business owners. The FCCNs are representative of, and built for, the communities of home-based child care business owners, working to build trust with the business owners and to support meeting their needs in culturally competent ways, which encourages engagement and participation in the networks (2 networks serve refugee providers; 3 serve Arabic-speaking business owners; and 3 serve Spanish- speaking business owners). Within the first year, the FCCNs supported 32 home- based child care business owners to become licensed, 14 to become license- exempt and are supporting an additional 40 through the licensure process. In addition, 43 Network members started participating in Great Start to Quality, 33 began accepting child care subsidies and 24 began participating in the child and adult care food program. It is our intention to continue to expand and support these networks moving forward. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? During the Caring for MI Future initiative, 16 Regional Child Care Planning Coalitions, predominantly led by Economic Development Organizations, were developed throughout the state, bringing together cross-sector stakeholders to understand the child care challenges and their impact on economic development, and create actionable, powerful strategies to address the child care challenges in their regions. Their work will continue, as the Coalitions begin to implement their strategies ￿ working to support the creation and maintenance of child care centers (and home-based care) in areas that have been identified as the most urgent in their region. In addition, MiLEAP is preparing to lead a robust pre-K expansion that was announced by Governor Whitmer in her State of the State address in January of 2024, that will make state-funded pre-K accessible to all families regardless of income. This investment will strengthen and dramatically expand child care centers throughout the state. 4.5.4 Strategies to increase the supply of and improve quality of child care Lead Agencies must develop and implement strategies to increase the supply of and improve the quality of child care services. These strategies must address child care in underserved geographic areas; infants and toddlers; children with disabilities, as defined by the Lead Agency; and children who receive care during non-traditional hours. How does the Lead Agency identify any gaps in the supply and quality of child care services and what strategies are used to address those gaps for: a. Underserved geographic areas. Describe: Our Strong Start (housed in child care licensing) has a team of trained navigators that connect child care entrepreneurs with grant opportunities and assistance, addressing questions and concerns about starting or expanding their child care business. The Our Strong Start team assists eligible child care entrepreneurs in applying for pre-licensure grants which are available to those who have not yet completed the process of becoming licensed. This grant funding is available to help cover costs such as initial child care facility costs, (rent, mortgage etc.) fire and health inspection fees, child development learning supplies and curriculum, and other items necessary for opening a child care business. In addition, startup grants are available once child care entrepreneurs obtain their license, to help support the costs associated with opening a new child care business. On-line toolkits to support entrepreneurs in better understanding business development, the child care industry, and the licensing process. In addition, the required licensing orientation sessions will be available online to support child care providers in successfully completing this requirement. Through our Caring for MI Future(CFMF) work we have been working with Michigan State University to develop maps that identify where licensed programs exist, what their capacity is and how many slots there are per child, per age group. This data can be sorted by county to help identify gaps for future planning and resources that are needed to increase the supply of child care. Regional coalitions and others can use these maps as they work locally to increase the supply of care. In addition, during CFMF Michigan invested $59 million dollars to expand capacity of care through facility improvement grants. These grants were awarded to new and expanding licensed providers. 993 individual providers (712 home based providers and 281 center based providers) were approved for 3,618 projects across the state. 1,385 individuals were awarded a pre­ licensure grant to help individuals pursing licensing and 373 individuals received start up grants. Additional maps created by MSU include: A map that identifies accessibility to child care by identifying a point in time comparison of child care capacity to current data, allowing us to identify how many children are competing for one spot, by county in Michigan. Another map identifies counties where child care scholarship children are served in comparison to known federal poverty level data and ethnicity. Utilizing B-5 Preschool Development Grant funding and CFMF funding we also invested in specific community driven Rural Child Care Innovation Plans (RCCIP) to support increasing access to child care. In addition, CFMF supported the creation of 16 regional planning coalitions (these also include the rural communities) to develop regional child care plans that meet the needs and preferences of working communities and address child care needs. Funding for the 10 regional coalitions statewide will continue in FY25. b. Infants and toddlers. Describe: Michigan, through its GSQ Resource Centers, offers an infant/toddler support network through Infant Toddler Specialists who lead peer to peer opportunities through cohorts, provide technical assistance and offer specialized infant/toddler training to help maintain the number of infant/toddler classrooms we already have in existence. In addition, we have an MOU for our Early Head Start Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) grantees to allow for full child care scholarship funding in addition to the EHS-CCP funds to ensure full day, full year care. Through our Caring for MI Future project, Michigan State University (MSU) has developed a variety of maps to support us in understanding how many children are competing for licensed child care slots throughout the state, and supports us in tracking our progress or losses in available care over time. The ￿child care desert￿ map has been designed to allow MiLEAP, Regional Planning Coalitions and other partners to filter the data by location and existing slots by age group to narrow in on the communities that they are focusing on. MSU utilized the 2022 American Community Survey from the US Census Bureau to estimate child population throughout the state to combine it with the data on where licensed programs exist, their capacity and how many slots there are per child, per age group. This data can be sorted by county to help identify gaps for future planning and resources that are needed to increase the supply of care for infants/toddlers. c. Children with disabilities. Describe: Michigan does not currently have policies and supports in place to address improving care for children with disabilities. Time will be needed to revisit policy around scholarship eligibility for children with disabilities in order to expand access and supports to ensure access to high quality early learning opportunities. In addition, we will be exploring whether or not grants/contracts will be offered for children with disabilities. d. Children who receive care during non-traditional hours. Describe: During the Caring for MI Future initiative, 16 Regional Child Care Planning Coalitions, predominantly led by Economic Development Organizations, were developed throughout the state, bringing together cross-sector stakeholders to understand the child care challenges and their impact on economic development, and create actionable, powerful strategies to address the child care challenges in their regions. The Department believes that data collected by the Regional Child Care Planning Coalitions will help us begin to devise strategies to better support this type of care. e. Other. Specify what population is being focused on to increase supply or improve quality. Describe: 4.5.5 Prioritization of investments in areas of concentrated poverty and unemployment Lead Agencies must prioritize investments for increasing access to high-quality child care and development services for children of families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment and do not currently have sufficient numbers of such programs. Describe how the Lead Agency prioritizes increasing access to high-quality child care and development services for children of families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment and that do not have access to high-quality programs. Utilizing CCDF ARPA funds Michigan implemented Caring for MI Future, a multi-faceted project to increase the supply of child care across the state. As part of this effort, Michigan State University (MSU) has developed a variety of maps to support us in understanding how many children are competing for licensed child care slots throughout the state and supports us in tracking our progress or losses in available care over time. The child care desert map has been designed to allow MiLEAP, Regional Planning Coalitions and other partners to filter the data by location and existing slots by age group to narrow in on the communities that they are focusing on. MSU utilized the 2022 American Community Survey from the US Census Bureau to estimate child population throughout the state to combine it with the data on where licensed programs exist, their capacity and how many slots there are per child, per age group. This data can be sorted by county to help identify gaps for future planning and resources that are needed to increase the supply of care for areas with high unemployment and poverty. In FY25 MSU will begin utilizing additional unemployment and poverty data collected for Kids Count to expand the maps to provide enhanced information for supply building and decision making. In the beginning of the CFMF initiative, a baseline was set to identify and elevate counties in either an urgent or high need category to guide the work and monitor progress. These designations were based upon staff shortage, current capacity limitations and child poverty rate data. Communities with two of the three of these metrics in the highest ranges were included in the urgent category. As the project proceeded, each CFMF project collected and reported key identified data into a collective spreadsheet to track progress by county. In addition to the spreadsheet, MSU created maps to show the key individual project data as well as trends in overall uptake of project offerings across the board. 5 During monthly CFMF Implementation team meetings, the team used these tools to examine areas where there was little or no usage of the CFMF opportunities against those that were successfully using the offerings, paying attention to the urgent and high need designation. This information was shared with regional planning partners, the GSQ Resource Center staff and other stakeholders with inquiries about what they felt might be getting in the way of potential child care entrepreneurs using these opportunities and requests for support in reaching the communities that were not being successfully engaged. Efforts were made to prioritize these areas, however, in some cases there were no child care businesses in the county that met the eligibility criteria for the grants, or the deadlines to apply came too quickly to address their barriers fully. Funding that was allocated for the pre-licensure and start up grants had to be obligated by September 2023 ￿ which meant that those grants were no longer available after that time, however, MiLEAP was able to obligate the remaining $9m to the Facility Improvement Grant pool, which allowed IFF with the ability to focus this additional boost of money to applicants that were stuck in the process, many of whom were in urgent counties. Supply building efforts will continue through the utilization of regional child care coalitions and family child care networks. We will continue to utilize the mapping established under CFMF to address access. Health and Safety of Child Care Settings Child care health and safety standards and enforcement practices are essential to protect the health and safety of children while out of their parents’ care. CCDF provides a minimum threshold for child care health and safety policies and practices but leaves authority to Lead Agencies to design standards that appropriately protect children’s safety and promote nurturing environments that support their healthy growth and development. Lead Agencies should set standards for ratios, group size limits, and provider qualifications that help ensure that the child care environment is conducive to safety and learning and enable caregivers to promote all domains of children’s development. CCDF health and safety standards help set clear expectations for CCDF providers, form the foundation for health and safety training for child care workers, and establish the baseline for monitoring to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements. These health and safety requirements apply to all providers serving children receiving CCDF services – whether the providers are licensed or license-exempt, must be appropriate to the provider setting and age of the children served, must include specific topics and training on those topics, and are subject to monitoring and enforcement procedures by the Lead Agency. CCDF-required annual monitoring and enforcement actions help ensure that CCDF providers are adopting and implementing health and safety requirements. Through child care licensing, Lead Agencies set minimum requirements, including health and safety requirements, that child care providers must meet to legally operate in that State or Territory. In some cases, CCDF health and safety requirements may be integrated within the licensing system for licensed providers and may be separate for CCDF providers who are license- exempt. This section addresses CCDF health and safety requirements, Lead Agency licensing requirements and exemptions, and comprehensive background checks. When responding to questions in this section, OCC recognizes that each Lead Agency identifies and defines its own categories of care. OCC does not expect Lead Agencies to change their definitions to fit the CCDF-defined categories of care. For these questions, provide responses that best match the CCDF categories of care.