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  Last Updated on 07/13/2018

Michigan Child Care Task Force Meeting Minutes for October 5, 2005

* The 2005 Market Rate Survey was finalized in August. The Executive Summary of the Survey is available on the web at: <http://www.michigan.gov/daycare> Click on " Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Plan for Michigan FY 2006-2007" (just under the teddy bear); Go to attachment G-1.

* FY ’06 Requests for Proposal – Two RFPs are being drafted: (1) for resource and referral, provider support, outreach, and on-site coordination services; (2) for child care provider training. These drafts will be reviewed by the Executive Committee/Board of the Early Childhood Investment Corporation at their October meeting. If approved by the Board, the RFPs may be released by the end of October. If changes are needed, November will be more likely for release and posting of both RFPs. It is anticipated that contracts will be awarded for services beginning January 1, 2006.

* Child Development & Care Administrative Rules Review – A committee has been convened (with provider representation) to review CDC administrative rules. The CDC Program Office is drafting recommendations made by this committee. These recommendations will be sent to DHS Legal Affairs for their review and next to the State Office of Administrative Rules (SOAR) for final review and approval.

* Automated Recoupment - Effective October 31, CDC client over-issuances and under-issuances will be systematically identified using a new automated system and referred to DHS recoupment specialists for action. (Previously this work was done manually by Family Independence Specialists.) CDC program office staff and field staff are currently testing this new automated over-issuance calculation process.

* Early Childhood Workforce Study – An Invitation to Bid (ITB) is expected to be posted soon for an early childhood workforce study. The State’s objective for this procurement is to obtain current, valid and reliable information on Michigan’s early childhood care and education workforce. Several issues have caused considerable delay in the posting of this ITB.

JIM HENNESSEY, the newly appointed DIRECTOR FOR CHILDREN'S SERVICES for DHS, was introduced and asked to make a few comments. Mr. Hennessey described his three decades of experience, primarily in Iowa, and expressed great optimism about the future of early education and care in Michigan and the nation, although he recognized that much hard work lies ahead.

GUEST SPEAKER: DALE FICKLE, Senior Research Associate, Michigan League for Human Services; Dale spoke about the current fiscal situation facing Michigan's public sector.

* Mr. Fickle discussed the unusual budget process used by the Michigan legislature this year. The Senate passed budget bills using the traditional format; the House used a new process based on the book, "The Cost of Government" Each chamber passed budget bills, ignoring the bills passed by the other chamber. These discrepancies were ironed out in end. Of importance to the task force, child care funding through DHA was cut substantially while most other early childhood education generally stayed even with last year.

Continuing tax cuts plus huge growth in the costs of some public such as health care create "structural deficits" in Michigan's budget. This means last year's state services automatically cost more that the state has this year, and this problem will exist in the future. Governor Granholm tried to pass a budget that included cuts in government spending while identifying new revenues. The Republican leaders in the legislature wanted only cuts in spending and no new revenue sources. This impasse explains the delay in passing the budget for fiscal year 2006.

* Michigan's fiscal problems are increasing. In recent years, the growth of state revenues has not matched the growth of Michigan's economy making it impossible for public services to keep up with the cost of providing those services. Michigan's tax policies assure that state revenues will fall further behind economic growth. In recent years, the percent of Michigan's economy used to fund state services has fallen from 10% to 8% and is expected to fall further. At the federal level, the percent of the economy allocated to federal services has fallen approximately from 19% to 17% while spending has increased dramatically. Since most of public spending involves paying people to deliver services, state and federal services must diminish unless people will work for constantly falling wages even as the economy grows and the cost of living rises. Medicaid costs add pressure to public budgets, having increased 7-8% per year in recent years (even this, however, is well below the double-digit increases in Medicare and private-pay insurance over the same period).

The divestment in public spending coupled with huge increases in certain costs, especially health costs, mean that current state fiscal support of public goods such as schools, roads, public health, fire and police protection may come to an end - all of it - in about 10 years unless something is changed. The public is not yet engaged with this problem, believing that somehow government will muddle through. Look for interesting times ahead.

* The "Taxpayers' Bill of Rights" (TABOR) may come to Michigan in 2006 if anti-government advocates succeed in putting an anti-tax proposal on the ballot. TABOR proposes that spending for state services can increase no faster than the rate of inflation and population growth. TABOR has devastated public spending in Colorado, the only state to implement it. The proposal sounds reasonable to many people, but it is disguised to constantly have state spending fall further and further behind economic growth. What causes this decline? When a recession happens, state spending will fall exactly as fast as the economy falls. When the following expansion comes, which is typically quite robust, growth in public spending cannot keep up because booms typically provide growth above the rate of inflation and population growth.

(An editorial note: TABOR does not recognize increased productivity. Productivity growth is why the cost of a loaf of bread, today, requires 5-to-15 minutes worth of wages compared to an hour of wages 100 years ago. A fiscal policy that ignores increased productivity assures that financing for public services such as schools cannot keep up with the economy. The only alternative will be to eliminate or privatize many public services. Some analysts believe Michigan's public college system will diminish enormously in 20 years if today's funding trends remain the same. - S.M.)

* You can contact Dale Fickle at the League for Human Services: dfickle@mlan.net; 517-487-5436.

GUEST SPEAKERS: JUDY STEVENS, Strategic Analyst, AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees); KARLA SWIFT, Administrative Assistant, United Auto Workers - They described their work in Michigan to organize child care workers and represent them in collective bargaining with the State of Michigan

* The two unions are forming "Child Care Providers Together - Michigan"; they plan to organize family and group home providers, relative care providers and day care aides. They will not organize center based providers nor Head Start staff.

* Each guest briefly described their union: They have large memberships across the country; the UAW is the largest Michigan union; they have lots of experience in negotiating for and obtaining improved working conditions for workers in the public sector; they have succeeded in obtaining regulations that protect public employees and, often, the people that the employees serve; they have succeeded in collaborating with advocacy groups that focus on public endeavors such as health, education, environmental protection and look forward to similar success in the child care profession; they have helped public sector employees do relatively well in recent years as public funding has diminished; they have had some success in organizing child care workers in other states; with respect to child care, have a deep commitment to promoting high quality care for children.

* Specific organizing activities in Michigan are as follows. Union staff do door-to-door visits, unannounced in advance, and discuss child care realities as seen by providers. Staff report that many providers are interested in organizing through a union in hopes of receiving higher reimbursement from the state and obtaining better working conditions. Many like the idea of negotiating with the state because the state has paid too little and may pay even less in the future.

* The unions face a couple of big challenges in this work: there is High provider turnover and providers are dispersed throughout the state.

* Two common issues are raised by providers during the visits at the door. The home providers want to maintain control over their business, which Will continue to be the case if they join a union. They also want to retain personal responsibility for parent/provider relationships, a practice that will continue.

* There are specific services that the unions will bring to their member providers: uniting the different types of providers, activating them; bring them together to negotiate with DHS and lobby at the state capitol, particularly for higher rates; lobbying with Congress; advocacy training for providers; lobbying for improved licensing services by DHS and lower case loads for consultants; strong advocacy for benefits, especially health care insurance.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
* Why are centers not included in the organizing effort? Center staff do not receive payment directly from the state; home providers do. The unions want to organize providers and relatives for negotiation directly with the state. This seems the best place to start.

* Why shouldn't home- and relative-providers let Michigan AEYC represent them. What will the unions do that is different? There was much discussion about this with the following points coalescing out of the conversation. Labor law gives unions certain powers to organize workers and obtain collective bargaining rights for those workers. MiAEYC does not have that capacity. Collective bargaining inherently establishes occasional adversarial situations that MiAEYC would not want to use as a normal and expected part of its advocacy. MiAEYC and other child advocate organizations lobby policy makers with a shared wisdom that adversarial behavior, for them, is generally unwise. Many MiAEYC members represent "management" in the child care profession and would not belong to MiAEYC if it organized workers to bargain with management.

* You can reach Judy or Karla at: Judy Stevens: JStevens@afscme.org; 202-429-1253

Karla Swift: kswift@uaw.net; 313-926-5533

FURTHER BUSINESS OF THE TASK FORCE:

MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION; OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION & FAMILY SERVICES - Blanche Deren

* There are three staff changes:

- Kristin McDonald will leave the Department of Human Services and, on January 1, become an executive assistant to Superintendent Mike Flanagan

- Reneé DeMars-Johnson has accepted a Supervisor position in the Office of Early Childhood Education and Family Services (ECEFS). She will head a 0-3 unit named "Infant, Toddler and Family Services." This unit encompasses the Even Start Program, Zero-3 Secondary Prevention, ASAP-PIE, Great Parents, Great Start, and Early On®.

- Mary Sutton has accepted the position of Executive Director of the Michigan After-School Partnership, which is housed in ECEFS. The MASP works with before- and after-school programs. A MASP steering committee is working to generate guidance and goals.

* Federally funded Even Start currently has 29 grantees. It is uncertain whether funding will continue for this program.

* Early On continues it’s redesign process. There is an eligibility committee in place to examine eligibility guidelines/concerns. There is also a fiscal study underway.

* News from Various ECEFS programs:

- 21st Century Community Learning Centers: applications continue to come in for the 52 grantees. A determinant for distribution of funds is demonstration of having a licensed program.

- Michigan School Readiness Program (State Aid and Competitive): MSRP is part of the newly named unit, "Preschool and Early Elementary Programs." (This unit also contains the 21st Century Community Learning Center Program and the Michigan After-School Partnership.) Approx 470 districts/psa’s are operating state aid MSRP and there are about 65 competitive MSRPs. Newly adopted PA 155 of 2005 has legislative language changes in several areas related to MSRP:

1. Staff qualifications: lead teachers must have a valid MI teaching certificate and an early childhood endorsement, or a BA in child development, specializing in preschool teaching.

2. Income eligibility guidelines have been broadened from 185% to 250% of the federal poverty level.

3. There is a new full-day MSRP option. Total funding is capped per program, but programs may choose to serve a children for a half-day at $3300 or a full day at $6600.

4. MSRP continues to be a placeholder for a Parent Involvement and Education (PIE) option, where a program may choose to use a portion or all of its funds to implement a home visiting, parent education program for families in the district having children aged birth-5.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY HEALTH, MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES TO CHILDREN & FAMILIES - Deb Marciniak

* Happiest Baby on the Block Training - Nov. 1, 2005
The Washtenaw Area Council for Children and the University of Michigan Health System Child Protection Team, in partnership with Prevent Child Abuse America, is bringing Dr. Harvey Karp, a renowned pediatrician/child development specialist and author of the bestselling book, "The Happiest Baby on the Block," to Michigan for a one-day seminar in his effective baby calming techniques. This seminar is for all who work with infants, parents of newborns, and expectant parents. It teaches valuable life skills that will lessen frustration and help build new parents’ loving bonds with their babies. It is also the first step in becoming a certified "Happiest Baby" trainer. For more information: www.washtenawchildren.org [Calendar of Events] or 734 434-4215.

Tuesday, November 1
9:00 AM to 4:30 PM
The Inn at St. John’s, Plymouth, Michigan
$99 (additional $50 for Certification materials) includes: Seminar and lunch PLUS over $50 worth of course materials including Dr. Karp’s “The Happiest Baby on the Block” book and DVD, and “Soothing Sounds” CD.

* Pre-kindergarten Expulsion Symposium – Nov. 18, 2005
The WSU Merrill-Palmer Institute will sponsor a Prekindergarten Expulsion Symposium on Nov. 18, 2005 from 8:00 am to 1:30 pm at Merrill-Palmer in Detroit. The half-day symposium will explore prekindergarten expulsion from varying perspectives. Early childhood and mental health professionals will examine how the behavioral challenges of very young children can be best understood and addressed by families, educators and early intervention specialists. The keynote speaker is Mary Mackrain, State TA Consultant, Child Care Expulsion Prevention Initiative.
Cost: $30. More info: Bev Weathington, <b.weathington@wayne.edu>; 313 872-1790.

* Featured Internet Discussion - Expulsion of Preschool Children The Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health in Portland, Oregon is hosting an Internet discussion about the exclusion of preschool children from early childhood care and education settings. A recent study from Yale University's Child Study Center reports that the pre-kindergarten expulsion rate is 3.2 times the rate for K-12 students. You’re invited to read the essay and post your comments; go to: http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgFeaturedDiscussions.php

Child Care Rules Revisions - Richard Lower
The proposed rules for child care centers will be the subject of public hearings in the first half of October. You can find the center and the home rules in their up-to-date incarnations at: <http://www.state.mi.us/orr/emi/rules.asp?type=dept&id=HS> Click on "Revision Text" for each of the top two rule sets: "2003-039 HS" for the center rules; "2004-005 HS" for the home rules

TANF Reauthorization - Jane Zhender-Merrell
TANF has received a continuation to carry it through December 31. No action on TANF is expected in the foreseeable future.

Head Start Reauthorization - Richard Lower
* Reauthorization has been passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. Good news-no block grants for Head Start and the National Reporting System will be paused for further development.

* Three notable AMENDMENTS include: (1) allowing faith-based discrimination in hiring, firing, and program eligibility for Head Start programs housed within faith-based institutions; (2) taking away authority and parent right through the weakening of parent policy councils; (3) not allowing for-profit child care programs to administer Head Start and make a profit from it.

* Major CONCERNS continue to be: (1) increased teacher requirements of 50% of teachers having a bachelor’s degree by 2011 (50% average for the nation as a whole) with no additional dollars being allocated for attainment or compensation post-attainment; (2) all new hires must attain an associate’s degree within three years of hire; (3) re-competition; (4) weakening of parent policy councils; (5) elimination of state association’s role in hiring the state collaboration office director and providing guidance.

* Next steps, the U.S. Senate is likely to bring its reauthorization bill to the floor before Thanksgiving break. Several of the major concerns are being looked at in the Senate.

Early Learning Michigan (Joyce Foundation funded effort) - Susan Miller

* ELM has completed a series of focus groups an Early Education. It looked at Republican Women, Grandparents and Highly Educated people, three groups seen as likely people to support ECEC if informed of the issues. A report will become public in the near future.

* Advocacy training geared toward local communities has begun in the Jackson area and in Oakland County. There will be four more such advocacy trainings in 2006.

The meeting adjourned shortly before noon.

Meeting notes taken by Lin Hirai (Office for Young Children, Ingham Regional 4-C) and Steve Manchester (Michigan AEYC)