A Seat at the Table: How Kent County Built a Child Care Plan with Parents and Providers in the Room
(November 2026)-In 2024, Kent County had an estimated 52,323 children ages five and younger and only 31,863 licensed child care slots. Even that gap of more than 20,000 understates the problem. Staffing shortages keep many infant and toddler rooms from operating at full capacity, so waitlists of 12 to 18 months are common. Some families pay to hold a place in line before their baby is born. Those are some of the supply-related issues. It doesn’t get into affordability, workforce, quality, and the effect it has on employers.
The Child Care Task Force gave the issue a face. In one fictional scenario built from the task force members' own experiences: a family moves to Kent County with two jobs lined up and a 3-year-old. Five years and two children later, they're paying $2,430 a month for care and asking whether one parent should leave the workforce. In another mirror-image scenario, their child care provider is asking a harder question: "Do I need to shut down for good?"
The scenarios were fictional, but those weren't hypothetical voices at the table. The Kent County Board of Commissioners created the task force in 2024, bringing together commissioners, employers, philanthropy, and parent representatives, Danny Alonso and Meagen Coburn. First Steps Kent recruited parents for the work, helped administer the process alongside Kent County Administration, and served as an early childhood content expert.
“I am proud of the work we did on the Kent County Child Care Task Force. I’ve long volunteered with various entities, but this endeavor was met with a particular fiery passion as, at the time, my youngest was approaching four years old and we were paying thousands each month in child care,” recalled Meagen Coburn, parent representative.
From September 2024 to February 2026, the Kent County Child Care Task Force researched and learned the ins and outs of the child care sector. They learned from communities around the country that were implementing innovative solutions. Home-based providers like Trisha Dart and Clarivel Martinez, both Mainspring Early Care Alliance advisors, briefed members on what it takes to keep a small child care business afloat.
The task force turned those experiences into a final report including 14 recommendations on affordability, supply, and workforce. Some are strikingly practical, such as making it easier for families to complete a child care scholarship application. Others show the scale of the need. For example, when Michigan launched a wage stipend pilot, 2,800 providers asked to participate in West Michigan, and funding could serve 250.
What comes next is a roadmap through 2030: state and federal legislative priorities in 2027, a Kent County Tri-Share demonstration project, and a review of the Ready by Five Early Childhood Millage in 2028. Every big success starts small. In Kent County, this one started with parents, providers, and employers each saying what the system looks like from their side of the table.