8.1 Coordination with Partners to Expand Accessibility and Continuity of Care

Lead Agencies must coordinate child care services supported by CCDF with other federal, State/Territory, and local level programs. This includes programs for the benefit of Indian children, infants and toddlers, children with disabilities, children experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care. 8.1.1 Coordination with required and optional partners Describe how the Lead Agency coordinates and the results of this coordination of the provision of child care services with the organizations and agencies to expand accessibility and continuity of care and to assist children enrolled in early childhood programs in receiving full-day services that meet the needs of working families. The Lead Agency must coordinate with the following agencies: a. State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care or similar coordinating body (pursuant to 642B(b)(I)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act). Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department utilized a State Advisory Committee (SAC) to help identify priorities and areas of improvement for the State Plan. Ongoing they will continue to advise the Department on strategies to address the identified priorities and potentially identify new priorities. These opportunities result in the Department being aware of implementation barriers and needs across the state, which allows us to adjust/modify policies and procedures. b. Indian Tribe(s) and/or Tribal organization(s), at the option of the Tribe or Tribal organization. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination, including which Tribe(s) was (were) involved: Consultation meeting sharing included topics that provided updates and opportunities for tribal partners to participate in the Departments' efforts to increase the quality of child care. These tribes, including; Bay Mills Indian Community, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Hannahville Indian Community, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan, Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (Michigan and Indiana), Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan, included sharing the market rate survey (MRS) overview, drafting of the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) Plan, working to increase communication and sharing, breaking down barriers, increasing coordination and providing connections to quality improvement activities. In addition, consultation often included the Child Care Licensing Bureau (CCLB) and other partners. [ ] Not applicable. Check here if there are no Indian Tribes and/or Tribal organizations in the State/Territory. c. State/Territory agency(ies) responsible for programs for children with disabilities, including early intervention programs authorized under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MILEAP) is the lead agency responsible for Early Education in Michigan. The area of Early Education includes the Lead Agency, Head Start Collaboration, Child Care Licensing, GSRP/Early Childhood Special Education & Family Services. Early Childhood Special Education is the state’s early intervention services for children birth to three (Early On) and Early Childhood Special Education (Ages 3-5) with developmental delays. These programs are Michigan’s system for implementing early intervention services as required under Part C of IDEA. The Lead Agency participates in the Early Childhood Special Education interagency coordinating council. The Michigan Interagency Coordinating Council (MICC) is authorized and required by Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) as amended by Public Law 105-17. MICC consists of governor appointed members including parents of infants or toddlers with disabilities, individuals representing public or private providers of early intervention services, an individual representing the Michigan Legislature, a Head Start program representative, a personnel preparation representative, state agency administrators, and other representatives. The MICC is charged with advising and assisting the Lead Agency on the coordination of an early intervention system. Representatives from MILEAP participate on the State Advisory Council. MICC meetings provide members, families, partners, grantees, and concerned citizens the opportunity to comment on Michigan's system of early intervention. These meetings meet at a minimum once every three months. They are an opportunity for members and other interested parties to participate, in person, in the work of the MICC. All meetings are open to the public. This council purpose and power are listed in the Michigan ICC Bylaws as the following: (A)The Council shall act in an advisory capacity and shall do all of the following: (1.) Advise and assist the Department of Education with all of the following: (a.) The performance of responsibilities under Section 635 (a)(10) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 USC 1435(a)(10), particularly, identification of sources of fiscal and other support services for early intervention programs, the assignment of financial responsibility to appropriate agencies and the promotion of interagency agreements. (2.) Advise and assist the Department of Education in the preparation of agreements for financial and other assistance and amendments to the application. (3.) Advise and assist the Department of Education regarding the transition of toddlers with disabilities to preschool and other appropriate services. (B.) The Council may advise and assist the Department of Education regarding provisions of appropriate early intervention services for children age birth to three. (C.) The Council may advise state departments and agencies and other appropriate agencies regarding provisions of the integration of services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and at-risk infants and toddlers, and their families, regardless of whether at-risk infants and toddlers are eligible for early intervention services in the state. As used in this paragraph, ￿at-risk infants or toddlers￿ means an individual under three years of age at risk of experiencing a substantial developmental delay if early intervention services are not provided to the individual. (D.) The Council shall prepare and submit an annual report to the Governor and the United States Secretary of Education on the status of early intervention programs operated within this state for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. (E.) The Council shall provide other information or advice as directed by the Governor. d. State/Territory office/director for Head Start State collaboration. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Coordination goals are focused on ensuring low-income children have access to high quality care and that, for those who are eligible, they can access child care scholarship to increase continuity of care and the utilization of maximum funding to support children and families. The two offices work in partnership to meet with the Early Head Start-Child Care (EHS-CC) Partnership grantees in Michigan. In addition, a partnership with the Michigan Head Start Association (MHSA) is in place to support grantees and ensure child care barriers for families are known and addressed and support efforts around the early childhood workforce and increase technical assistance availability. The Head Start State Collaboration Office is also part the Office of Early Childhood Education within MiLEAP. The office is part of the State Advisory Council. e. State/Territory agency responsible for public health, including the agency responsible for immunizations. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: MiLEAP works with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) (which has funding for public health initiatives, mental health initiatives, social emotional consultation, home visiting, and Medicaid) to ensure that children are born healthy, and children are healthy, thriving and developmentally on track by third grade. Efforts include home visiting initiatives, immunizations, social emotional consultation, and developmental screening coordination to ensure access to children/families. MDHHS representatives are also part of the Child Development and Care (CDC) State Advisory Council that focus on inclusion of children with special needs and home visiting, such as the MICC. They are also part of the State Advisory Council. f. State/Territory agency responsible for employment services/workforce development. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Michigan Economic Development Corporation-Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and the CDC Program coordinate with the Partnership, Accountability, Training, Hope (PATH) program implemented by the WDA designed to establish and maintain a connection to the labor market for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and recipients of child care scholarship. Participants often also receive CDC scholarship and are placed into employment and education and training programs. In addition, MiLEAP partners with Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) on apprenticeships for those in the early childhood field. g. State/Territory agency responsible for public education, including pre-Kindergarten. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: MiLEAP works closely with the Michigan Department of Education on many initiatives including statewide implementation of MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports), early literary, family engagement, preschool special education inclusion, career pathway, and teacher preparation initiatives. Most recent results include expansion of MTSS professional development and coaching, development of three multilingual online trainings, and continued expansion of the Future Proud Michigan Educator LAUNCH initiative which is focused on leveraging Career Technical Education (CTE) to support high school students with completing credentials-the Child Development Associate (CDA) and/or the Michigan Youth Development Associate (MI-YDA) while in high school to support building the education (early childhood and k-12) pipeline. The number of available CTE Programs focused on Education has increased from 55 in the 2019-2020 school year to 130 in the 2023-2024 school year. h. State/Territory agency responsible for child care licensing. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Child Care Licensing is located in the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential (MiLEAP) ensuring that all licensing rules and regulations are being met by licensed and registered child care providers across the state. There is coordination between the Office of Child Care and child care licensing related to criminal history checks, implementation of new rules for programs, and Great Start to Quality. Child care licensing is represented on the State Advisory Council. i. State/Territory agency responsible for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and other relevant nutrition programs. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department shares information with CACFP (including home-based providers and license exempt related providers) to facilitate recruitment of programs. This includes program information, such as reimbursement rates and income guidelines; how to apply to the program; forms and instructions; operational memos; training, such as webinars, as well as the training schedule; regulatory information; resources, including financial resources; and related websites. This information is provided through website and is sorted by topic area. Additional partners include the United States Department of Agriculture-Food and Nutrition Services (USDA- FNS) and the USDA-Team Nutrition. In addition, connections exist for the Great Start to Quality as part of our quality indicators. The coordination results in CACFP sponsors being able to recruit providers to participate and be connected to Great Start to Quality. Michigan works with the Michigan Farm to Early Childhood Education (ECE) Network to support child care providers with improving access to healthy food, increase nutritional awareness and health outcomes, and to support ECE providers as they improve children’s learning environments. Michigan also has a state partnership with GO NAPSACC to additionally support providers with Farm to ECE resources and training. j. McKinney-Vento State coordinators for homeless education and other agencies providing services for children experiencing homelessness and, to the extent practicable, local McKinney-Vento liaisons. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department works with the McKinney-Vento State Coordinator and Special Populations Manager (located at MDE) to support our statewide training: Supporting Families Experiencing Homelessness: How Child Care Providers Can Help. Coordination is critical to maintain up to date data and training resources, and to provide current contact information for McKinney Vento Coordinators and Liaisons. At our most recent meeting, Coordinators and Liaisons were invited to meet with trainers to support role awareness, relationship building and resource sharing. Resource Center approved trainers deliver the training statewide and are encouraged to invite the McKinney Vento Liaisons to join for local support. k. State/Territory agency responsible for the TANF program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department coordinates with the TANF program by being part of an integrated eligibility application system for all public assistance programs to reduce burdens for families. The integrated eligibility application system allows families to apply for all five major public assistance programs in one place. This system was achieved through a culmination of many state and private agencies and has been in place since September 2020. TANF funds are used to provide direct support services to help CDC clients achieve self- sufficiency. Direct support services include employment support services (i.e., transportation, special clothing, tools, vehicle purchases and vehicle repair), family support services (i.e., classes and seminars, counseling services and commodities), provide consumer education about the CDC scholarship program and parental provider choices. Additionally, families participating in Michigan's TANF funded cash assistance program, the Family Independence Program (FIP), qualify for CDC. Copayments are waived for these families as well. They are represented on the State Advisory Council. l. State/Territory agency responsible for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: MDHHS is responsible for public health initiatives, mental health initiatives, and Medicaid. Coordination of Medicaid funding access helps to bring infant/mental health, social emotional consultation, well child visits and immunizations to promote the overall health and well­ being of children and ensure that children are ready to thrive and learn in a mixed- delivery system. Michigan CDC Scholarship application is combined with other Michigan benefit programs including Medicaid. CHIP is one type of Medicaid that is offered to eligible children. Criteria for meeting CHIP requirements would be determined through the enrollment process by a special unit through Healthy Kids within MDHHS. When a client is completing an online application in MiBridges the system will prompt cross program nudges that suggest additional assistance programs based on what the applicant is entering. Paper applications are comprehensive of all Michigan benefit programs including Medicaid and CHIP. m. State/Territory agency responsible for mental health services. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: MiLEAP works with MDHHS to enhance equity and the quality of services, through the work of the state's social emotional / Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health consultants, funded through CCDF, Mental Health Block Grant and MiKidsNow funding. Social emotional consultants (31 counties out of 83) are providing training and ongoing coaching around infant mental health and Pyramid Model strategies to increase equitable and quality child care practices and environments to support social and emotional well-being of all children and the staff that care for them. In addition, statewide supports have been developed to support via trainings and peer support groups to allow access to all providers statewide, not just those communities with consultants available. These social emotional consultants are focused on the highest risk populations, birth to 5 years, and linking providers and families to comprehensive community resources. n. Child care resource and referral agencies, child care consumer education organizations, and providers of early childhood education training and professional development. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: MiLEAP partners (via agreements) with the Great Start to Quality Resource Centers, the Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC), the Family Child Care Networks (FCCNs), the Regional Child Care Coalitions, and Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children (MiAEYC) who all assist providers with participating in Great Start to Quality (GSQ), provide workforce development, scholarships, operate lending libraries and assist parents without access to the 24/7 online database with finding child care. The Michigan Farm to Early Childhood Education (ECE) Network, a group of over 30 organizations working together for over four years, collaborates so children ages birth to 5 can grow, choose, and eat nutritious local food in early care and education settings. The network exists to improve access to healthy food and early childhood outcomes, increase nutritional awareness and healthy outcomes, and support early childhood education providers as they work to improve children's learning environments. They do this by sharing resources and making connections between community and state partners, producers, early childhood education providers, and families. In addition, MiLEAP has a strong partnership with the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health (MiAIMH) which has an increased focus on providing training to support childcare providers serving children and families prenatal to age five. o. Statewide afterschool network or other coordinating entity for out-of-school time care (if applicable). Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Michigan After- School Partnership (MASP), which works to increase the supply and quality of programming for children in Michigan is a partner of the Department. MiLEAP ￿ Office of Early Childhood Education supports and coordinates with the MASP to extend the day or year of services for families and smooth transitions for all children including vulnerable populations, between programs or as they age into school by ensuring inclusion of before- school, after-school, and summer programming options for families by linking MASP data on program offerings with family information resources. Provide training/professional development and quality support for programs participating in GSQ; Quality Rating Improvement Scale (QRIS). p. Agency responsible for emergency management and response. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Michigan Statewide Emergency Preparedness Plan & Response Plan (https://www.michigan.gov/mileap/­ /media/Project/Websites/mileap/Documents/Early-Childhood-Education/Child­ Development-and-Care/other/MDE-CDC-Emergency-Preparedness-Plan-6-8-23-Final­ Draft_ADA.pdf?rev=b0d73663754d416eb15261b2e2faf23a&hash=EEE6E0BB7A707E464D 6FD03700E9EB92 ) addresses coordination in the section of Guidelines for Continuation of Child Care Subsidies and Services stating the following: In coordination with partnering state agencies, Michigan State Police - Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division along with Michigan Local Emergency Managers in each county. The lead agency plan is supplement to the Michigan Emergency Management Plan (MEMP) (pages 98-107) (Appendix A). The lead agency recognizes and supports the statewide operational Emergency Management Plan as written to address the full scope of response to a disaster or emergency. Michigan has established and identified trained Local Emergency Management Coordinators for each county in the state to assist in all aspects of response within the plan. The MEMP incorporates established systems to communicate and provide the following response and recovery activities as related to children: Reunite children with their parents and/or guardians through the following activities in the event of a disaster/emergency: • Establish a toll-free hotline, as well as teletypewriter (TTY) and video relay service (VRS) lines to receive reports of displaced children. • Create a website that is compliant with Section 508 to provide information about displaced children. • Deploy staff to the location of the declared disaster event to gather information about displaced children. • Provide information to the public about additional resources. • Partners with local, state, tribal, and Federal law enforcement agencies. • Coordinate with the MDHHS to assist in family reunification. • Partnerships with agencies to offer crisis counseling, disaster case management, support services for affected individuals, support acquiring non-governmental assistance including but not limited to home repair, clean-up, initial rebuilding, childcare, in-kind donations, support acquiring government benefits and disaster assistance programs. • Identifies areas appropriate for shelters for disaster survivors. The Michigan Emergency Management Plan (page 104) identifies MILEAP Child Care Licensing as having the following role: 1. Provide guidance, promulgate regulations, conduct investigations and compliance reviews, and enforce Federal civil rights laws, including their general application to emergency management and specific application to mass care services, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Protect) 2. Provide construction, engineering, and project management expertise and support for temporary (accessible) housing and sheltering (to include management of temporary roofing support following disasters). (Recover) 3. Coordinate the establishment of group mobile home sites for temporary disaster housing. (Recover) 4. Provide licensing information to disaster survivors. (Recover) 5. Expedite licensing for facilities and individual homes, as needed. (Recover) 6. Implement appropriate economic stabilization measures. (Recover) 7. Retain a list of licensed transitional healthcare facilities such as adult foster care homes, long term care (nursing home) facilities, homes for the aged, and childcare. (These licensed facilities may be used to identify available and physically accessible housing resources for disaster survivors. These do not include ) (All) 8. Retain a list of licensed interpreters who can be contacted in case of emergency. (All) Child Care Licensing (CCL) has rules set forth in the Policy Manual for Temporary Operations (Appendix D) of licensed child care facilities when affected by an emergency/disaster. Local Emergency Management Coordinators in some locations are used as a point of reference when looking for safe locations for temporary operations. The local level involvement of emergency preparedness begins at the county level with the Local Emergency Management Coordinator’s. A list of the current Local Emergency Management Coordinator’s may be accessed in the following link: https://www.michigan.gov/msp/­ /media/Project/Websites/msp/EMHSD/documents/11292018__LocalDir_External_Report .pdf . The local jurisdictions develop their Emergency Operation Plans and will address disaster related needs of children differently, to assist in the plan the Michigan State Police, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division (MSP/EMHSD) provides a plan template that addresses those needs as followed Emergency Operations Plan Template MSP EMHSD Local Jurisdiction (Appendix B) . The following is identified on page 10 of the template document: A. The needs of children during a disaster will be managed through 1. Incorporating children’s needs in all phases of emergency management and the following documents, procedures, and plans (insert documents/plans/procedures, e.g., annex, SOP, mass care and evacuation, school safety plans etc.). 2. Establishing shelters that have resources necessary for children, including but not limited to: diapers, formula, food, portable cribs, playpens, and the capacity to supervise any unaccompanied children (insert additional resources). 3. Providing emergency childcare services during an incident through (insert child services, e.g. disaster recovery centers provide free childcare, etc.). 4. The reunification of children with families will occur through (insert process, e.g., use the National Emergency Child Locator Center during presidential disasters, establish toll free number for families to call, etc.). 5. The requirement of FEMA course IS-366: ￿Planning for the Needs of Children in Disasters￿ for EM staff. q. The following are examples of optional partners a Lead Agency might coordinate with to provide services. Check which optional partners the Lead Agency coordinates with and describe the coordination and results of the coordination. i. [x] State/Territory/local agencies with Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership grants. Describe: MiLEAP coordinates with Michigan’s Early Head Start Child Care (EHS-CC) Partnerships and the Head Start Collaborations Office (HSSCO) to focus on ensuring low-income children and families have access to high-quality services, particularly full-day, full year services. Through this coordination, families have increased access to child care scholarships, ensuring continuity of care and maximization of funding resources for these full day, full year services. Additionally, MiLEAP and EHS-CC partnership grantees have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to allow for blending of funds for this full day, fully year services. MiLEAP meets with the EHS-CC partnership and the HSSCO director quarterly; coordinators with Michigan Head Start Association (MHSA) and the HSSCO director to support grantees and identify barriers; coordinates conversations with local MDHHS office to address eligibility issues; and supports efforts around the early childhood workforce and provision of technical assistance. ii. [x] State/Territory institutions for higher education, including community colleges. Describe: To support quality child care services, the Lead Agency partners with both associate and bachelor's degree granting institutions to ensure coursework is aligned to our core knowledge and core competencies and to promote strong articulation agreements for ease of moving from the Child Development Association (CDA) to an associate or bachelor's degree. We have partnered to host an annual higher education summit to connect and continue work to support seamless pathways for students. Our current Future Proud Michigan Educator LAUNCH initiative, which is focused on high school students participating in the Career Technical Education (CTE) Education track, has required engaging higher education institutes to support dual enrollment, early middle college and articulation for the CDA and/or the MI-YDA credential. TEACH Early Childhood Michigan continues to focus on articulation for scholarship recipients and meeting the needs of those currently working in the field that are pursuing higher education. They have partnered with community colleges to offer cohort models that are specifically designed to reduce access barriers. To support quality child care services, the Lead Agency partners with both associate and bachelor’s degree granting institutions to ensure coursework is aligned tour core knowledge and core competencies and to promote strong articulation agreements for ease of moving from the Child Development Association (CDA) to an associate or bachelor's degree. We have hosted higher education summits to connect and continue toward the ultimate goal of a competent workforce. In addition, we have partnered with 10 higher education institutions to develop infant and toddler specific coursework. Each college was required to develop a minimum of one new college course that would be included as part of their early childhood degree program. Support was provided by Zero to Three and participating colleges were part of a cohort model. With the implementation of our new teacher certification structure, Michigan will now offer a birth through kindergarten and a preschool through third grade certification band. We heavily engaged both associate and bachelor’s degree granting institutions in the writing of the standards for each of the new bands and are currently working with our associate degree granting colleges on some alignment documents to support the field and ease transfer and articulation agreements going forward. iii. [ ] Other federal, State, local, and/or private agencies providing early childhood and school-age/youth-serving developmental services. Describe: iv. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for implementing the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs grant. Describe: The MDHHS provides leadership for the Michigan Home Visiting Initiative (MHVI), which includes the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visitation Program for which they are fiduciary, as well as home visiting programs funded with Medicaid, state public health, mental health, children's trust fund resources, and state school aid. The purpose of the Michigan Home Visiting Initiative (MHVI) is described in the initiative's overall goals: 1) to build the evidence-based home visiting (EBHV) system in the state, and 2) to integrate the home visiting system within the comprehensive Great Start Early Childhood system. The Lead Agency is a partner in these efforts. v. [x] Agency responsible for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Program. Describe: Medicaid is administered by the MDHHS. Representatives from the Department participate on a cross-agency team, that includes MiLEAP with the goal of increasing the number of children receiving screenings. With our PDGB-5 funding, MiLEAP conducted a study of pediatric providers across the state to determine what developmental screenings are being used and where the universal screenings are being conducted. Data showed that 91% of providers utilized the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) while 68% utilized the Ages and Stages Questionairre-3 (ASQ-3) and/or a combination of the two. Additional screenings included the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-Social and Emotional screen (ASQ-SE), the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC), and the Survey of Well-being of Young Children screen (SWYC). All screenings were conducted in clinical settings. Providers stated that utilizing screenings aided in the referrals process to other early childhood systems such as Early On, speech therapy, audiology, mental and behavioral health/social workers, physical therapy, and preschool special education programs. vi. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for child welfare. Describe: MiLEAP meets regularly with MDHHS staff from child welfare/foster care to ensure the policies and practices in place or proposed are serving vulnerable populations, including children in foster care, families receiving TANF, a parent or child receiving supplemental security income (SSI), migrant farmworkers, children experiencing homelessness, or families with active substantiated neglect/abuse case qualifying for protective services. Surveys were completed and presentations to foster care groups navigators and parents to identify the needs of foster care families and help them understand the process of applying for scholarship. A simplified Foster Care Child Care Scholarship Application was created to reduce barriers for foster parents who apply for scholarship with limited information about the child. The goal of the CDC program is to support low-income families by providing access to high- quality, affordable, and accessible early learning and development opportunities and to assist the family in achieving economic independence and self-sufficiency. The CDC program is intended to promote continuity of care and extend the time an eligible child has access to child care assistance by providing a scholarship for child care services for qualifying families. Families caring for a child in foster care, who receive TANF, a parent or child receiving supplemental security income (SSI), a parent who is a migrant farmworker, a child experiencing homelessness, or a family with an active, substantiated neglect/abuse case qualify for protective services shall be considered without an income test and is determined on a case-by-case basis. vii. [x] Child care provider groups or associations. Describe: The Lead Agency interacts with provider groups and associations through a variety of activities (webinars and in person meetings) to gather program feedback and offer guidance. In addition, we hold a monthly Naptime Nugget meeting for providers to hear state updates and ask questions about child care scholarships and child care licensing. viii. [x] Parent groups or organizations. Describe: The Lead Agency coordinates with the 60 Great Start Family Coalitions (GSFCs) across Michigan. Information regarding quality of care is shared with GSFC’s 9,000 members to ensure information can be used for local planning with families to increase access to high quality child care and other needed resources and supports. ix. [x] Title IV B 21st Century Community Learning Center Coordinators. Describe: Michigan 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) Programs that serve children under the age of 13 years are required to maintain a childcare license to ensure that the program sites are safe and healthy environments for school-age children. In addition, 21st CCLC programs are included in the continuous quality improvement, state registry, and professional development systems. Michigan 21st CCLC staff assist in providing school-age-appropriate training and support networks for school-age program quality improvement. All 21st CCLC programs are included in the childcare data base maintained by the lead agency for easy access for parents and families. 21st CCLC programs are free to all students enrolled; however, programs have worked with CCDF scholarship to braid funding sources to provide extended hours and care to meet the needs of working families. State level staff from the 21st CCLC program, childcare licensing and the childcare office meet as needed to share information and collaborate on initiatives. Through this collaboration, Michigan has worked to expand the number of qualified providers through the Future Proud Michigan Educator LAUNCH career pathways initiative. State staff from several departments and offices including Preschool and Out-of-School Time (Childcare, 21st CCLC, Great Start Readiness Program), Career and Technical Education, Educator Excellence, Labor and Economic Opportunity and community and education partners came together to tackle this common issue. This collaborative effort over the past 3 years has markedly increased the number of new young educators gaining qualifications and joining the preschool and out-of-school time workforce. x. [x] Other. Describe: MiLEAP is a member of the TEACH Early Childhood® Michigan advisory team. Staff from the department are also involved in committees and workgroups of MiAEYC to ensure an aligned and coordinated professional development system. GSCs and GSPCs. The Lead Agency coordinates with the 60 GSPCs across Michigan by information sharing with their 9,000 members regarding quality child care to ensure information can be used for local planning with families. In addition, MDE is a member of the TEACH. Early Childhood® Michigan advisory team. Staff from the department are also involved in committees and workgroups of MiAEYC. The CDC Director also participates as an advisory member for the Child Care Innovation Fund housed at ECIC.