FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Early Childhood Investment Corporation
Contact: Sean Neall
517.371.9000 Ext. 201
sneall@ecic4kids.org
Eleven Great Start Collaboratives receive more than
$840,000 to support early childhood funds
LANSING – The Early Childhood Investment Corporation today announced that 8
Michigan Great Start Collaboratives have been awarded a total of $844,750 to help
low-income families afford quality child care and preschool for their 3-year-old
children.
Great Start Collaboratives give local communities a strong voice in creating an early
childhood development system that works. They are the essential local foundation
for the state’s Great Start initiative, bringing together parent leaders and local
decision makers such as educators, business leaders, clergy and law enforcement.
The Early Childhood Investment Corporation is an independent, publicly owned
nonprofit, helping rebuild Michigan’s economy through effective early childhood
development.
Many of Michigan’s 4-year-olds are enrolled in the Great Start Readiness (GSRP), or
the federally-funded Head Start preschool program. But research shows that two
years of a high quality early learning experience, beginning at age 3, often result in
greater outcomes and school readiness for children with greatest risks.
In 2011, The Investment Corporation awarded $2.7 million in matching grants to 29
collaboratives that had raised money to establish a local community Great Start fund
and use a portion of the funds to provide scholarships for the most at-risk 3-yearolds from low-income families to access high-quality child care and preschool. The
matching dollars allowed some collaboratives to fund scholarships through FY13.
The awards announced today are meant to “recognize the sustainability efforts of
those collaboratives that continued the scholarships in their community,” according
to Alicia Williams, Early Learning Innovations Projects Manager at the Investment
Corporation.
Teams that represented the Michigan Department of Education – Office of Great
Start (MDE-OGS), a Great Start to Quality Resource Centers, Great Start
Collaboratives and the Early Learning Advisory Council, reviewed collaborative
requests and assigned points based on how the original funding from 2011 had been
sustained, having a process in place for selecting the programs that children
receiving the scholarships would attend; that each of the participating programs had
achieved at least 3-stars in Michigan’s Great Start to Quality rating system; that
those children receiving the scholarships would also have a second year of highquality care as a 4-year-old; and finally, that the collaboratives would be able to
sustain the scholarships.
Priority consideration was given to collaboratives that received the Office of Great
Start Preschool and Child Care Coordination Grant.
Collaboratives receiving awards include: Oakland ($90,000); Calhoun ($90,000);
Ottawa ($79,750); Crawford, Iosco, Ogemaw, Oscoda, Roscommon and Iosco
Counties ($90,000); Midland ($90,000); Ingham ($90,000); Traverse Bay/Manistee
($90,000); Kent ($45,000); St. Joseph ($45,000); and Hillsdale ($45,000).
In Michigan, the cost of high-quality child care and preschool is often prohibitive for
low-income families. The average cost of full-time care for an infant or young child
in a family child care home or center in Michigan is between $6,400 and $8,900,
according to Michigan greatstartCONNECT.org.
Great Start Connect is a 24/7 database that helps families find high-quality early
learning and care in their communities. The database is a feature of the Great Start
to Quality project of the Michigan Department of Education and the Investment
Corporation.
Research shows that early childhood supports increase the chances of life success,
cut government costs and stimulate local, state and national economies.
“The research demonstrates that two years of high-quality early learning make a
difference in school readiness and these funds are one way to make that happen,”
said Karen Roback, Senior Director of Early Learning Innovation for the Investment
Corporation. “When children are ready to succeed, we all benefit.”
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The Early Childhood Investment Corporation: Assuring solid returns from solid
investments in early childhood development
Funding from the Office of Great Start within the Michigan Department of Education
supports the implementation of Great Start.