East Central Childcare Wage Initiative
East Central Michigan Wage Initiative
Michigan is investing $16 million statewide to support and retain the early educators who make quality child care possible. Supporting early educators is key to Michigan’s broader economy. Families and businesses rely on a strong, stable child care system to stay in the workforce. Yet many early childhood educators earn far less than professionals with similar education and experience, with wages that are too low to support their own families, leading to high turnover, staff shortages, and burnout. Through this initiative, participating programs can help their staff receive monthly wage stipends while contributing to a stronger, more sustainable early learning system over the next two years.
Employment UpdatesProof of Payments
Scoring Information
Applications will then be scored based on the rubric.
Application data will be combined with public data (i.e., MSU Child Care Desert Maps and Childhood Opportunity Index) to calculate final scores based on rubric criteria.
County-specific cut scores are set using local application scores and available stipend slots so that every county has an equitable chance to participate in the pilot.
Eligible programs that meet their county’s cut score enter a computer-randomized lottery that assigns stipends until each county’s allocation is filled.
Selection Process
On December 22nd at 11:59pm the Application will close. Applications will then be scored based on the rubric.
Lottery Results & Offers:
- Programs are contacted with an award offer specifying available stipends
- Accept full, partial, or decline – Programs can accept the full award, accept fewer stipends, or opt out entirely
- Unused stipends return to pool – Any declined or unclaimed stipends go back to the county for the next draw
- Cycle continues – The lottery draws the next eligible program and repeats until all stipends are assigned or all programs have decided
- Full documentation – Every selection, offer, acceptance, and decline is recorded for transparency and audit readiness
