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Market Rate Survey FAQ

Market Rate Survey FAQ

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Child Care Development Fund Market Rate Survey (MRS) RFP Webinar

For those who were able, thank you for joining us at the Child Care Development Fund Market Rate Survey (MRS) RFP Webinar held on May 20, 2026 at 10:00AM EST.  The questions and answers below have been compiled from the webinar as well as those submitted by email to MiLEAP-CDC-ADMIN@michigan.gov.  Please refer to the CDC website for more information regarding this RFP: www.michigan.gov/childcare.

GENERAL RFP QUESTIONS

  • How will the evaluation reflect the true operational cost vs. current market rates? A lot of providers keep tuition low just for families to afford child care when not eligible for CDC payments. Does the survey get split and categorized in these different sections?

    Those who are bidding will need to propose how to capture this data through a market rate survey/alternative methodology and a narrow cost analysis.  Collectively these will reflect the current market rates as well as the true operational costs.

  • Can the survey be categorized between licensed capacity and actual capacity? Because there are workforce shortages that prevent classrooms from fully operating.

    The RFP includes the data points that must be included in the study, which include licensed capacity, current enrollment, waiting lists, impact of workforce on ability to operate at full capacity vs shortened hours and fewer classrooms, and number of full-time staff and part-time staff to meet licensing requirements.  Any additional elements would need to be included in the proposal for MiLEAP consideration.

  • Have there been any strategies in the past with the Market Rate Survey that encourage provider participation? If so, what was used or any incentives that was found successful? 

    MiLEAP encourages you to review other state MRS documents and past Michigan MRS documents for ideas on strategies that have been used. Here is a previous Michigan MRS.  

     

  • How will non-traditional hour providers be represented when analyzing staffing models, operational expenses, and enrollment patterns from providers that have traditional hours? Would this be something the applicant is able to break into groups and categories during this study

    The design and methodologies used to reflect differences in rates for factors such as non-traditional hours, staffing models, operational expenses, and enrollment patterns will be identified by the applicant with final approval by MiLEAP.

  • In the State of Michigan, what is considered non-traditional hours? 

    Non-traditional hours typically refers to child care and early education provided outside of standard daytime weekday hours — typically before 7 a.m., after 6 p.m., overnight (11 p.m.–6 a.m.), or on weekends.

     

  • Is part of the study intended to determine whether providers are choosing not to accept scholarship children vs. providers feeling like they financially cannot afford to participate under its current structure? 

    The study at a minimum will include assessing for any barriers providers have to participate in the scholarship program, which may include payment rates.  In addition, the Grantee will be required to ask child care providers what decision points they consider when deciding whether to accept the CDC scholarship or not and what policy changes would increase the likelihood of them caring for scholarship children.  The final report will answer the following questions:

    • Why do providers limit (or not accept) CDC scholarship children?
    • What barriers exist (payment rates, practices, etc.)?
    • How could the scholarship reimbursement process be improved to increase provider participation?

  • Can the study be broken down by county and then further categorized by certain factors (rural communities, urban areas, underserved areas)? 

    Geography is a required element in the study and applicants should consider the current regional designations that support child care providers.  However, the design of the study and the proposed methodologies will be identified by the applicant with final approval by MiLEAP.

     

  • How will the study define “equal access” when considering all the different factors that vary from region to region?

    The final analysis will account for all factors that impact equal access, such as geographic variation, age of the child, hours of care, and type of provider.  The final analysis should fully capture the child care landscape in Michigan to determine sufficient payment rates to ensure equal access for eligible children that are comparable to child care services provided to children whose parents are not eligible for CCDF.

     

  •  Because of rapidly changing real world costs, what is expected from MiLEAP between data collection and a finalized report? 

    The final report submitted to MiLEAP will be reflective of the data at the time it was collected for this study. There is no expectation of updating this data between collection time and final report.

     

  • Is it correct that any resumes and biographies included will count toward Form E’s 5-page limit?

    That is correct – resumes, job descriptions, and biographies will count toward the 5-page limit for Form E.

     

  • Should the forms be submitted as separate documents or combined into a single PDF?

     All application documents should be combined into a single PDF when submitted.