Michigan

Our Michigan state office was opened in 2008 to serve the needs of child care businesses. Our Michigan team has a deep understanding of the importance of early care and education’s impact on underserved communities, and has provided critical support to business.

Our Michigan team and its work has grown to serve the entire state, providing support to family child care entrepreneurs and child care center business leaders in every corner of Michigan. Whether your business is just launching or you have been in business for decades, our team has tools, resources and expertise to bring your business to its next phase of growth.

Rural Child Care Innovation Program

The Rural Child Care Innovation Program (RCCIP) is an innovative community engagement process designed to increase the supply of high-quality child care in rural communities. The purpose of RCCIP is to guide communities in identifying the scope and size of their child care challenges, and to empower and support communities to develop solutions to address these challenges.

Successfully engaging communities across Michigan

The FCF Michigan team has successfully helped numerous Michigan communities develop action plans that successfully identified opportunities and challenges in the development of sustainable child care. These community engagements covered rural areas from northeast corner of the state to southwest counties bordering Indiana.

Want to find out more about RCCIP and how it might be beneficial in your community’s efforts to grow sustainable child care? Contact InfoMI@firstchildrensfinance.org for more information.

Michigan State of Child Care Survey Webinar

RCCIP Success Story: Arenac County / North Bay

Arenac County/Northern Bay (MI) partnered with First Children’s Finance as part of the Rural Child Care Innovation Program (RCCIP). Analysis showed a child care shortage of approximately 522 child care slots.

Focus groups, individual interviews, and surveys highlighted factors contributing to a child care shortage in the area:

Providers were affected by numerous rules and regulations, low pay and no benefits, long hours, and high operating costs.
Staffing was 60-80 percent of overall expenses for providers.
Parents were severely impacted; 58 percent of respondents declined employment or withdrew from the workforce due to child care issues.

The RCCIP process identified goals for Arenac/Northern Bay County:

Promote community support to license the Arenac Community Center to house a child care center.
Support the startup of a child care center in the city of Pinconning.
Create a Revolving Loan Fund to help families eligible for child care subsidy, while they waited for applications to be approved.
Promote partnerships among providers, employers and working families.

These goals have helped the communities as they address child care supply issues and plan for a successful future.

Child Care Business Services

FCF grows the supply of sustainable, excellent child care. Our business development programs and services help entrepreneurs launch, stabilize, improve, and expand child care businesses.

Child care businesses in Michigan are eligible to participate in a variety of trainings, workshops, cohorts, and individual consultation . To learn more about our services send an email to InfoMI@firstchildrensfinance.org.