MiLEAP Celebrates Success of Caring for MI Future

Launched in 2022, Caring for MI Future Supported Thousands of Child Care Entrepreneurs to Open, Expand Child Care Programs

The Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) last week celebrated the successes of Caring for MI Future, a statewide collaboration that has helped child care entrepreneurs open or expand more than 3,600 child care programs in the state, giving families more high-quality and affordable child care options.

“Michigan families and our economy depend on access to affordable and high-quality child care. Caring for MI Future shows just how much we can accomplish when we all work together to advance an important goal,” said Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea, director of MiLEAP. “Through the innovative efforts of the many Caring for MI Future partners, there are now thousands more child care options available for families. This is a great start but the work is not done, and we will continue collaborating with our partners to help Michigan families access child care that meets their needs.”

“Since its launch, Caring for MI Future has truly been an all-hands-on-deck effort, and we want to thank our partners who contributed their time, expertise and passion,” said Emily Laidlaw, deputy director of early education at MiLEAP. “By innovating and expanding access to child care in our state, we are helping more children benefit from high-quality early education, and more parents and caregivers can work and advance their careers.”

Launched in May 2022, Caring for MI Future included a $100 million investment to help more Michigan families find quality, affordable child care in their community by helping child care entrepreneurs open new or expand existing child care programs. At the program’s launch, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II set a bold goal to open 1,000 new child care programs by the end of 2024, which was surpassed a year earlier than expected. As of Aug. 31, 2024, more than 1,600 new child care licenses were issued and over 2,000 expanded licenses were granted since Caring for MI Future’s launch.

Caring for MI Future partners included MiLEAP, IFF, Early Childhood Investment Corporation, Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children, Michigan State University, First Children's Finance, and Wonderschool. Through their efforts, child care providers benefited from funding and support to address key barriers to opening or expanding child care businesses, including: 

• Space: To help expand the amount of affordable, safe space available to care for kids, more than $56.8 million in funding was awarded to complete more than 3,600 projects to improve facilities to meet licensing and quality standards.

• Start Up Support: To help child care entrepreneurs navigate processes and open new child care spaces, more than $10.5 million in Pre-Licensure Grants were awarded to more than 1,300 providers and $5.2 million in Start Up Grants were awarded to more than 370 providers. In addition to funding, support from expert navigators helped providers navigate processes to help them open new facilities. 

• Staff: To help expand the number of trained child care providers in the state, Caring for MI Future partners expanded apprenticeship opportunities, offered scholarships and cleared barriers for those seeking to enter the early childhood education field. More than 1,900 people were awarded T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood scholarships to complete child care-related educational programs, including their Child Development Associate (CDA), and financial support was provided to 13 colleges to create CDA training cohort programs to reduce or eliminate barriers to those pursuing an associate degree in early education. Additionally, investments were made to improve processes and support for providers going through the credentialing process.

• Business Support: Caring for MI Future also included a number of initiatives to help stabilize and expand high-quality child care businesses in the state, by providing technical support to new business owners as well as support to help existing business owners strengthen practices to improve sustainability. Regional Child Care Planning Coalitions, Family Child Care Networks and Rural Child Care Innovation Plans were established to assess community child care needs, develop plans to meet local needs, and provide support to child care business owners.

Due to the success of these efforts, many initiatives that were part of Caring for MI Future will continue, including Regional Child Care Planning Coalitions, Family Child Care Networks, child care apprenticeships and more. For more information, visit Michigan.gov/CaringForMIFuture.