HOUSE BILL NO. 5044

June 16, 2021, Introduced by Reps. Puri, Breen, O'Malley, Markkanen, Roth, Ellison, Wakeman, Aiyash, Hope, Rogers, Koleszar, Garza, Steckloff, Cavanagh, Morse, Tate, Tyrone Carter, Manoogian, Calley, Anthony, Bellino, Stone, Witwer, Coleman, Brenda Carter, Hammoud, Neeley, Kuppa, Young, Yaroch, Rabhi and Cynthia Johnson and referred to the Committee on Families, Children, and Seniors.

A bill to provide for infant and toddler child care contracts; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state departments and agencies; and to provide resources for certain child care providers.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 1. As used in this act:

(a) "Contract" means the infant and toddler child care contracts established in section 5.

(b) "Department" means the department of education.

(c) "Provider" means a child care center, group child care home, or family child care home licensed under 1973 PA 116, MCL 722.111 to 722.128.

(d) "Region" means 1 of at least 4 areas of the state as determined by the department to provide technical assistance to child care providers.

Sec. 5. (1) The department, in conjunction with an implementation team that includes providers, partners, and parents of children in child care, must develop a contract model for infant and toddler child care providers that can be funded within the federal child care and development block grant requirements.

(2) Contracts created under subsection (1) must be awarded to providers in all regions in this state.

(3) Contracts must be awarded to high-quality providers located in communities where demand for infant and toddler child care exceeds supply as determined by the department.

Sec. 10. (1) A model contract created under this act must include, at least, all of the following:

(a) Consistent payments made in advance of providing care.

(b) Payments aligned with market rate.

(c) Continued engagement in quality improvement.

(d) Increased wages for qualified staff.

(e) Attendance requirements to continue receiving payment.

(2) In each year that infant or toddler contracts are awarded under section 5, the department must submit a report to the house and senate appropriation committees on the department budget and the state budget office regarding those infant and toddler contracts including, but not limited to, the number of participating providers, number of children served, and lessons learned.