Link to online report no longer available
Introduction:
Child care is a lynchpin of the state’s economy. Families with children cannot work without child care, but because of a lack of state oversight, they struggle to find reliable care that meets even basic health and safety standards.
Two recent federal audits, as well as national studies of state child care licensing requirements and enforcement, concluded that Michigan must provide more frequent on‑site monitoring of child care centers and homes to ensure that providers comply with basic health and safety regulations, including criminal record and protective services background checks for employees.
One major reason for Michigan’s failure to provide adequate oversight of child care is that the state’s child care inspectors have caseloads that are more than three times the nationally recommended standard. The result is that many Michigan parents seeking child care cannot feel confident that the care they find is consistently safe and in compliance with licensing requirements. For low- and moderate-income parents - including parents who are required to work 40 hours a week as a condition of receiving public assistance - the choices are even more limited. Unable to afford higher quality care or let one parent stay at home when children are young, they face difficult choices with few assurances.