For over two decades, local Great Start Collaboratives (GSCs) and Great Start Family Coalitions (GSFCs) across the State of Michigan worked to ensure that all families had the resources and service supports they needed to provide a great start for their children from birth to age five. With Intermediate School Districts (ISDs) serving as fiduciaries and funded by Section 32p of the State School Aid Act, GSCs and GSFCs supported local early childhood systems building efforts that were developed with and for families, early childhood providers, businesses, and community leaders. GSCs and GSFCs brought together local partners and families to plan, collaborate, and support a coordinated approach to identifying and meeting the comprehensive needs of families with young children in their communities. Importantly, GSFCs ensured families had leadership and decision-making roles in these community-driven early childhood efforts.
Section 32p also funded home visiting services within some GSC service areas through a competitive application process. These grants provided voluntary coaching and support for expectant parents and caregivers of young children to help guide them through the early stages of raising a family. Finally, Section 32p also funded local literacy efforts that distributed books and early learning materials, and helped parents learn strategies to build early literacy and reading skills with their young child.
In fiscal year 2026, this all came to an end when the State Legislature eliminated Section 32p funding – a loss of $19.4 million – that impacted each and every community across the state. The loss of this infrastructure had immediate and wide-reaching effects, including loss of access to local developmental screening and referrals for families with young children who needed additional evaluation and supports. Of particular devastation was the elimination of funding for GSFCs, removing the primary structure for family voices to drive local early childhood efforts. The loss of family voice and leadership, cross-sector partnerships, and localized solutions has been detrimental to the children and families who rely on these services and programs.
As the fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget-making season kicked off with the Executive Office’s budget recommendations, new “Early Learning Partnerships” are being proposed in a recreated Section 32p of the School Aid budget. These new Early Learning Partnerships aim to reestablish an important local infrastructure based on the current state of the system while making connections across existing initiatives.
As families, early childhood services providers, and local leaders talk to lawmakers about the importance of the proposed Early Learning Partnerships in the FY2027 budget, ECIC encourages discussions about funding to include the following important components of any local early childhood systems work:
- Families must come first. Ensure family voice and leadership are embedded in all elements of local early childhood systems building efforts to ensure local priorities are responsive to the needs of families with young children in their community.
- Families don’t live in silos. Local efforts must focus on strengthened coordination, collaboration, and alignment across sectors including health, mental health, child safety and protection, economic security programs, and child care and early education to best meet families’ needs.
- Ease access for families. Investments must facilitate, coordinate, and expand a “no wrong door” approach for families to access the early childhood services they need as easily as possible.
- Ensure accountability and alignment to state priorities. Any new public investments for Early Learning Partnerships must be clearly aligned with statewide early childhood goals and that the intended impact for young children and families must be clearly articulated and tracked across the state.
Investing in local Early Learning Partnerships can ensure families access vital support programs, integrate parent voice and leadership into early childhood systems building, strengthen cross-sector collaboration, and drive solutions tailored to local community needs.