Advocating for Early Care and Education

The importance of quality early education on a child’s cognitive, social, and emotional development is well documented. However, accessing quality early care and education is often difficult for families. Child care is one of the largest expenses for families with young children, often costing more than a housing payment or college tuition. Further complicating access is the reality that space in high quality care is limited, as Kent County does not have enough slots to meet the demand. Families are often left with options that present inconsistencies with quality programming.

Access, affordability, and quality are longstanding issues that have only been made more challenging by the pandemic. Solutions require policy change and sustained investment from the federal and state governments and commitment from the private sector. First Steps Kent and partners continue to advocate for effective policy solutions. Federal COVID-relief funding is providing an important start, but it is short-term support and gaps remain.

First Steps Kent has been aligning and supporting advocacy efforts at the local, state, and national levels. We have been delivering messages about the importance of early childhood development and how our community’s work is improving outcomes for young children and families in a number of ways. Advocacy work includes:

  • The Case for Child Care campaign -- First Steps Kent capitalized on the national conversation about child care to create more local awareness using a series of guest blog posts and social media graphics.
  • The Cost of Child Care video -- First Steps Kent created a video in which local child care providers shared their perspectives about the importance of early learning and the some of the misconceptions.
  • Normal was Never Enough -- This joint campaign between First Steps Kent, KConnect, and other community partners featured blog posts about the inequities in child care, along with what local groups are doing to try to improve the system.
  • Think Babies -- As one of 14 communities funded by the Pritzker Children's Initiative, First Steps Kent works with national partners to build a prenatal-to-three policy movement. This collaborative work has led to the creation of Think Babies Michigan, a coalition of more than 2,300 members mobilizing and advocating on policy priorities identified by families and early childhood experts around the state. First Steps Kent participates on the steering committee that is co-designing a vision and plan for a comprehensive prenatal-to-three system in Michigan.
  • Vote Kids First -- First Steps Kent co-hosted a candidate forum before the November election that invited parents with young children to ask questions of their local candidates.
  • Child Care Subisides -- First Steps Kent promoted and was part of the Kent County Health Department’s Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) convening, in which 15 organizations from across the state discussed challenges and how to bring awareness to subsidy programs and improve access to care.

2022 Child Care Numbers

  • 22% of local parents reported they were struggling to afford child care, compared to 10% nationwide. (RAPID Survey Project)
  • The average annual cost for an infant and a four-year-old is $18,802 in a child care center and $13,621 for in-home care. (Child Care Aware)
  • An estimated 44% of Michiganders live in child care deserts. A child care desert is when the ratio of children ages 0-5 to the number of licensed child care spots is greater than 3. Only one county in the state had enough spots for children in 2020. (MLPP)
  • More than 65% of families with young children have all available parents in the workforce. (Annie E. Casey Foundation)
  • It is estimated that 35% of Michigan children are in families with a single parent. (Annie E. Casey Foundation)
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