Michigan's Infant and Toddler Action Agenda

A Policy and Opportunity Proﬁle

for Michigan’s Infants and Toddlers

and Their Families

Michigan has over 330,000 infants

and toddlers. Current policies aren’t

meeting their needs. Children’s growth

and development are shaped by early

life experiences. Good health, secure

and stable families, and positive early

learning environments foster children’s

physical, intellectual, and social-emotional

development. This proﬁle provides

demographic information about Michigan’s

infants and toddlers and their families. It

also explains the current policy landscape,

including threats and opportunities at

the state level, as well as proposed policy

actions to improve wellbeing.

Michigan’s

Infant and Toddler

Action Agenda

strong parents.

Infants and toddlers need strong parents

skills.

high-quality child care and early education. Families

care and education programs that support child development

and allow parents to work or attend school.

economically stable families. Infants’ and toddlers’

parents need good jobs in responsive workplaces and access

to assistance when they’re unable to make ends meet.

healthy bodies, healthy minds, healthy parents.

health insurance, quality health care services that meet their

physical and mental health needs, and nutritious foods.

The Building Strong Foundations Project promotes federal and

state policies that address the wellbeing of infants, toddlers, and

families. It’s guided by a policy framework that outlines infants’

and toddlers’ needs, recognizing all children beneﬁt from healthy

bodies, healthy minds, and healthy parents; economically stable

families; strong parents; and high-quality child care and early

education opportunities.

The authors would like to acknowledge our colleagues at

Michigan’s Children for their partnership in developing this resource.

We’d also like to thank Mothering Justice and the Michigan League

for Public Policy for their helpful review and data analysis. And we

thank W.K. Kellogg Foundation for their generous support.

A Policy and Opportunity Proﬁle for

Michigan’s Infants and Toddlers and their Families

Michigan’s Infant and

Toddler Action Agenda

There are 330,698 children under age 3 in the state.

Michigan’s infants and toddlers of

color are more likely to have

low incomes.

Economic hardship is widespread among

young children in Michigan.

Poverty rates for children ages 0-5, by

county, 2016

One-third of Michigan’s infants

and toddlers are children of color.

Children ages 0-2 by race and

ethnicity, 2016

3% ASIAN

< 1% NATIVE

AMERICAN

5% MULTIRACIAL

< 1% SOME

OTHER

RACE

67%

WHITE

16%

BLACK

8% HISPANIC

SOME

OTHER RACE

MULTIRACIAL

NATIVE

AMERICAN

ASIAN

HISPANIC

BLACK

WHITE

ALL INFANTS

AND TODDLERS

< 100% FPL

100-200% FPL

25% 17% 55% 37% 26% 44% 13% 47%

22%

19%

22%

33%

12%

15%

40%

28%

Infants and Toddlers

and their Families in Michigan

Nearly 1/2 of all

parents with an

infant or toddler

in Michigan do

not have a college

degree.

88%

of all infants

& toddlers in Michigan

have at least one

working parent.

1 in 6

working

mothers in Michigan with

an infant or toddler work

in low-wage occupations.

Source: CLASP analysis of 2016

American Community Survey data.

Source: CLASP analysis of Current

Population Survey, 2016

Source: NWLC, “Mothers of Very Young

Children in Low-Wage Occupations,” 2017.

Source: Michigan League of Public Policy analysis of

American Community Survey, 2012-2016

Source: CLASP analysis of 2016 American

Community Survey data.

Source: CLASP analysis of 2016 American

Community Survey data.

113,312

babies were born in

Michigan in 2015.

44% were covered by

Medicaid.

Source: CDC, Births: Final Data for 2015, 2016; KidsCount

Data Center, “Medicaid Paid Births—Single Year.”

> 50%

> 40 < 50%

Ages 0-5 Population under the FPL

> 30 < 40%

> 20 < 30%

> 10 < 20%

< 10%

A Policy and Opportunity Proﬁle for

Michigan’s Infants and Toddlers and their Families

Michigan’s Infant and

Toddler Action Agenda

Action Agenda for Infants

and Toddlers in Michigan

3 Keep parents covered by ﬁghting attacks against Healthy Michigan

3 Invest in prevention-focused initiatives to reduce abuse and neglect

3 Support paid sick leave legislation as recently adopted

3 Target adult education resources and support services to parents with

infants and toddlers

3 Leverage the historic increase in federal child care funding to improve

the child care subsidy system

3 Build from Michigan’s ﬁrst-ever investment in early intervention to

advocate for continued state funding

A Policy and Opportunity Proﬁle for

Michigan’s Infants and Toddlers and their Families

Michigan’s Infant and

Toddler Action Agenda

Michigan’s infants

and toddlers need…

…healthy bodies, healthy minds,

healthy parents

Health insurance. Michigan was one of the ﬁrst states to expand

Medicaid to low-income adults through its Healthy Michigan program.

This has signiﬁcantly improved Michigan parents’ insurance rate.

When

parents can access health insurance, they’re more stable ﬁnancially. And

their children are more likely to be insured and receive preventive care.

Medicaid expansion

supports parents’

access to health care

Parents’ eligibility for

Medicaid, before and

after expansion

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation,

Medicaid Expansion in Michigan.

A large share of infants

and toddlers and their

parents are covered

by Medicaid

Insurance coverage

by type, 2016

Source: Haley et al., Health

Insurance Coverage among

Children Ages 3 and Younger and

Their Parents in 2016.

Access to

Medicaid is

associated with:

3 Greater access to

health care

3 Lower mortality rates

3 Healthier births

3 Better health,

educational, and

employment

outcomes in

adulthood

50%

100%

150%

■ Working Parents ■ Non-working Parents

Before Medicaid

Expansion

With Healthy

Michigan

64%

FPL

37%

FPL

138%

FPL

138%

FPL

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

■ Medicaid ■ Other insurance ■ Uninsured

Children

ages 0-2

Parents of

children ages 0-2

49%

64%

30%

Preserve the integrity of Healthy Michigan by ﬁghting back

against legislative and administrative actions that would

restrict low-income parents’ access to health insurance,

including work requirements and other proposals that

would limit eligibility or decrease aordability.

Note: For infants and toddlers, the Medicaid coverage rate

includes children covered by CHIP.

A Policy and Opportunity Proﬁle for

Michigan’s Infants and Toddlers and their Families

Michigan’s Infant and

Toddler Action Agenda

…strong parents

Child welfare. Michigan’s child welfare system has

faced signiﬁcant challenges for more than a decade.

series of settlements legally required the state to make sig-

niﬁcant changes to its child welfare and foster care system.

But so far, Michigan hasn’t met requirements. Child abuse

and neglect remain major problems—particularly for infants

and toddlers, who comprise one-third of the state’s abuse

and neglect victims.

Michigan must continue to reform its child welfare and

foster care system. At the same time, the state has a chance

to focus on preventing child abuse and neglect with recent

federal legislation.

Use the Family First Prevention Services Act

to increase funding for prevention-focused

initiatives such as mental health services, sub-

stance abuse treatment, and home visiting.

< 12

MONTHS

YEAR

YEARS

ALL

CHILDREN

0-17

67.6

21.7 17

21.4

Michigan has the highest rate of

infant maltreatment in the country.

Infants are at greatest risk for abuse and neglect

Victim rate per 1,000 children, ﬁscal year 2016

That’s nearly

68 out of every 1,000 babies

Source: Children’s Bureau, Child Maltreatment 2016

7,702 infants younger

than 12 months old

were abused or

neglected in FY 16

A Policy and Opportunity Proﬁle for

Michigan’s Infants and Toddlers and their Families

Michigan’s Infant and

Toddler Action Agenda

…economically stable

families

Paid sick leave. In Michigan, 45 percent of all

workers (1.7 million) lack access to paid sick leave.

Workers with low wages and people of color are more

likely to work in jobs that don’t oer paid leave. Local

governments in Michigan are currently prohibited

from requiring businesses to provide certain beneﬁts,

including earned paid sick leave. As a result, paid sick

leave must be passed at the state level.

The Michigan legislature recently passed the Earned

Sick Time Act, which allows workers to accrue sick time

to care for themselves or an ill family member, as well

as access preventive health care services.

Lawmakers and advocates should support this

legislation as adopted and block any eort

to weaken it.

Aordable education and training.

Michigan workers need aordable education and

training to expand their skills, access better jobs,

and support their families. Unfortunately, the state

drastically cut adult education funding in 2004.

As a result, student enrollment and completion

plummeted, then ﬂatlined.

Parents, in particular,

have lower rates of program completion.

Recently, Michigan strongly invested in aordable

education and training, including a multi-million-

dollar workforce development initiative.

These

dollars should be targeted to students who most

need support, including parents of infants and

toddlers.

1/3

of parents with

young children say taking

time o with a sick child

could cause them to lose

pay or their jobs.

Source: C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Sick Kids, Struggling Parents.

Source: Peter Ruark, Increase Adult Education Funding to Prepare More Workers

for Job Training and Skilled Work.

Spending and enrollment in adult education, 2002-2016

2002-

2003

$92.1 $74.6 70.8

$37.4 $23.8 27.5

2015-

2016

Total funding

(in millions)

State funding

(in millions)

Students enrolled

(in thousands)

Expand access to adult education and

training programs for parents with

young children. Dedicate resources to

connect parents of infants and toddlers

to comprehensive supportive services,

including nutrition and child care assistance.

Paid sick leave allows parents to care for themselves

and their babies without jeopardizing their families’

health and economic security.

Source: Elise Gould and Jessica Schieder, Work Sick or Lose Pay?

1 month

worth of utilities

1 month

worth of groceries

1 month

worth of health care

3.1

2.7

2.3

Parents lose out on wages when they have to

stay home without pay...

unpaid

sick days

unpaid

sick days

unpaid

sick days

A Policy and Opportunity Proﬁle for

Michigan’s Infants and Toddlers and their Families

Michigan’s Infant and

Toddler Action Agenda

…high-quality child care and early education opportunities

Child care assistance.

More than half of

Michigan’s infants and toddlers live in households

where all parents work.

That makes high-quality,

aordable child care critical. However, state child care

spending has been declining for years, preventing

much-needed reforms. Michigan’s eligibility threshold

is among the lowest in the county. It restricts child care

assistance to families earning less than 130 percent of

the federal poverty guideline ($27,014 for a family of

three).

Just 15 percent of eligible infants and toddlers

received subsidies in 2016.

Eligible under state

parameters (< 118% FPL)

Eligible under federal parameters

(< 85% SMI or 280% FPL)

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Black White HispanicAll infants

and toddlers

15%

19%

14%

Infants’ and toddlers’ access to child care assistance

is low and varies by race and ethnicity

Share of eligible infants and toddlers served in CCDBG in 2016

State spending on child care has steadily declined over time

Spending from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Child

Care and Development Block Grant Funds, FY 2006-FY 2016

Early intervention services.

Historically,

Michigan hasn’t invested state dollars in its early

intervention program through Part C of the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act.

Instead, it’s heavily

relied on federal Part C dollars.

That’s forced counties

and school districts to draw on other limited funding

sources—if alternative sources are even available. As

a result, many infants and toddlers receive insucient

services to support their development.

The state’s FY 2019 budget included a ﬁrst-time

investment for early intervention, totaling $5 million.

More resources are needed to fully fund Early On

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

$516

In millions

CCDBG TANF

$163

$143

$174

$188

$190

$245

$286

$367

$432

$462

Source: CCDBG and TANF administrative data.

Source: CLASP analysis of American Community Survey and administrative data

from the Oce of Child Care.

Michigan can change course by leveraging

the historic increase in federal child care

funding. Michigan should invest in higher

payment rates for providers, increase

eligibility limits to ensure more families

can access subsidies, and grow the supply

of quality care for infants and toddlers.

$5M

$68M

Current investment

Resources Needed

With this historic investment, advocates should push for

increased resources for children with disabilities.

Source: Early On Michigan Foundation, “Early On Michigan: Imperative to Fund the

First 1000 Days.

A Policy and Opportunity Proﬁle for

Michigan’s Infants and Toddlers and their Families

Michigan’s Infant and

Toddler Action Agenda

References

CLASP analysis of 2017 Current Population Survey, 2018.

National Women’s Law Center, “Mothers of Very Young Children in Low-Wage Occupations,” 2017, https://nwlc.org/resources/interactive-map-

mothers-very-young-children-low-wage-occupations/.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Births: Final Data for 2015, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr66/nvsr66_01.pdf; KidsCount

Data Center, “Medicaid Paid Births-Single Year,” https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/1716-medicaid-paid-births--single-year.

National KIDS COUNT, “Children who have a parent with no health insurance,” https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/6547-children-who-

have-a-parent-with-no-health-insurance?loc=1&loct=1#detailed/2/24/false/870,573,869,133,38/any/13533,13532.

Joan Alker and Alisa Chester, Children’s Health Insurance Rates in 2014: ACA Results in Signiﬁcant Improvements, Georgetown University Health

Policy Institute, Center for Children and Families, 2015, http://ccf.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ACS-report-2015.pdf; Stacey

McMorrow, Jason A. Gates, Sharon K. Long, et al., “Medicaid Expansion Increased Coverage, Improved Aordability, and Reduced Psychological

Distress for Low-Income Parents,” Health Aairs 36 (2017); Anne Case and Christina Paxson, “Parental Behavior and Child Health,” Health Aairs 21

(2002), http://content.healthaairs.org/content/21/2/164.full.

Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicaid Expansion in Michigan, http://ﬁles.k.org/attachment/fact-sheet-medicaid-expansion-in-michigan.

Jennifer Haley, Robin Wang, Matthew Buettgens, and Genevieve M. Kenney, Health Insurance Coverage among Children Ages 3 and Younger and

Their Parents in 2016, The Urban Institute, 2018, https://www.urban.org/sites/default/ﬁles/publication/96141/medicaid_chip_2001686_0.pdf.

Justin A. Hinkley, “More Michigan kids die despite 10 years of trying to ﬁx the system meant to protect them,” Lansing State Journal, May 3, 2018,

https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/watchdog/2018/05/03/michigan-dhhs-reform-child-abuse-neglect/513993002/.

Dwayne B. v. Snyder, https://www.childrensrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-07-18_michigan_modiﬁed_settlement_agreement.pdf

In FY 2016, 37,293 children were victims of abuse and neglect in Michigan—12,677 were younger than age 3, including 7,702 infants under 12

months old. For more information, see Children’s Bureau, Child Maltreatment 2016, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://www.

acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/ﬁles/cb/cm2016.pdf.

Children’s Bureau, Child Maltreatment 2016, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/ﬁles/cb/

cm2016.pdf.

Kristen Torres and Rricha Mathur, Fact Sheet: Family First Prevention Services Act, First Focus, 2018, https://campaignforchildren.org/resources/

fact-sheet/fact-sheet-family-ﬁrst-prevention-services-act/.

Michigan’s Children, Preventing Abuse and Neglect: The Michigan Children’s Trust Fund CAN Councils, 2018, http://www.michiganschildren.org/

wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2018_CTF-White-Paper-Final.pdf.

Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Paid Sick Time Access in Michigan Varies by County of Residence, 2016, https://iwpr.org/wp-content/

uploads/wpallimport/ﬁles/iwpr-export/publications/B360%20Michigan%20PSD%20Access%20Rates%20by%20County.pdf.

C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Sick Kids, Struggling Parents, 2012, https://mottpoll.org/sites/default/ﬁles/documents/10222012ChildCareIllness.pdf

Elise Gould and Jessica Schieder, Work Sick or Lose Pay? Economic Policy Institute, 2017, https://www.epi.org/publication/work-sick-or-lose-

pay-the-high-cost-of-being-sick-when-you-dont-get-paid-sick-days/

Peter Ruark, Willing to Work and Ready to Learn: More Adult Education Would Strengthen Michigan’s Economy, Michigan League for Public

Policy, 2017, https://mlpp.org/willing-to-work-and-ready-to-learn-more-adult-education-would-strengthen-michigans-economy-2/.

Peter Ruark, Increase Adult Education Funding to Prepare More Workers for Job Training and Skilled Work, 2017, https://mlpp.org/economy-

issues/budget-brief-increase-adult-education-funding-to-prepare-more-workers-for-job-training-and-skilled-work/.

Michigan’s Children, The Fiscal Year 2019 Budget, 2018, https://www.michiganschildren.org/download/19140/; MI Apprenticeship, “Marshall

Plan for Talent Aims to Build Michigan Students’ Career Skills,” Detroit Free Press, August 28, 2018, https://www.freep.com/story/sponsor-story/mi-

apprenticeships/2018/08/28/marshall-plan-talent-aims-build-michigan-students-career-skills/1107518002/.

A Policy and Opportunity Proﬁle for

Michigan’s Infants and Toddlers and their Families

Michigan’s Infant and

Toddler Action Agenda

CLASP analysis of 2012-2016 ACS 5-year data.

Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Plan for Michigan, FFY 2019-2021, https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/FY19-21_Submitted_

State_Plan_Draft_ADA_631732_7.pdf.

Based on state eligibility parameters in the most recent year for which data are available. CLASP analysis of 2016 and 2012-2016 American

Community Survey data and administrative data from the Oce of Child Care. For more information, contact the authors.

Michigan’s Children, Michigan Early Intervention: Supporting Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families, 2016, http://www.michiganschildren.org/wp-

content/uploads/2016/01/Early-On-Issue-Brief-Jan-2016-Update.pdf

Michigan’s Children, Better Financing Early On Michigan Early Intervention, 2016 http://www.michiganschildren.org/wp-content/

uploads/2016/01/Early-On-Financing-1-22-2016-Update.pdf

A 2013 audit of the Early On program concluded that infants and toddlers enrolled in the program were not necessarily receiving appropriate

services in the least restrictive environment with enough frequency. Additionally, the audit identiﬁed that many school districts were discontinuing

or signiﬁcantly reducing services during summer months. For more information, see https://audgen.michigan.gov/ﬁnalpdfs/13_14/r313200012.pdf.

Michigan’s Children, The Fiscal Year 2019 Budget, 2018, https://www.michiganschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FY1819-ﬁnal-budget.

pdf.

Early On Michigan Foundation, “Early On Michigan: Imperative to Fund the First 1000 Days,” http://earlyonfoundation.org/Files/Resources/

EO_Finance_Final.pdf.

References (cont’d)