On July 12, 2023, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order establishing the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, or MiLEAP. As a statewide leader on early childhood, the Early Childhood Investment Corporation, and our collaborative partners statewide, have identified several recommendations—our top ten—for how MiLEAP can make meaningful impact for young children, their families, and the early childhood workforce in Michigan.
ECIC’s Top Ten Recommendations for MiLEAP:
1. Improve Equitable Access to Free and Low-Cost Child Care
2. Rebrand “Subsidy” to De-Stigmatize Supports for Working Families
3. Make Michigan an “Early Adopter” of New Proposed CCDBG Rules
4. Go Beyond the New Proposed CCDBG Rules and Do Even More for Families
5. Accelerate Equitable Access to Universal Pre-K in Michigan
6. Announce a Vision for Universal Pre-K and Universal Child Care by 2030
7. Prevent Early Childhood Suspension/Expulsion in both Policy and Practice
8. Make Implicit Bias Training Available to Licensed Early Childhood Workforce
9. Remove Barriers to Universal Developmental Screening
10. Strengthen and Meaningfully Connect Community, Regional, and State Levels to Improve the Early Childhood System
Read our detailed recommendations and download the full document here.