Any parent can tell you that child care is one of the biggest challenges a family can face. A new report finds that Michigan can do better in helping families who need day care. A LOT better.
Michigan's missed out on tens of millions of federal dollars that could help more parents and kids access quality child care. In fact, if state lawmakers don't commit another $7.5 million to child care by the end of this month, Michigan will lose $20.5 million in matching federal funds.
The report comes from Public Sector Consultants (PSC), which did the study on behalf of the Michigan Department of Education Office of Great Start.
Jeff Guilfoyle, the vice president of PSC, joined Stateside to talk about the report. One of the many revelations in the report, entitled Building a Better Child Care System, is that the state of Michigan's spending on child care saw a massive drop from 2003 to 2013.
In 2003, Michigan spent about $1,500 per low-income child in a working household. Ten years later, the per-child spending dropped to $336.
Listen to the full interview above to hear more about the report and Guilfoyle's five most important improvements that can be made to improve Michigan's child care funding system.
