Beverly Walker-Griffea

Michigan is expanding its PreK for All program to include home-based child care providers through a pilot initiative that includes the Upper Peninsula.

The pilot is designed to test and refine how home-based providers can successfully deliver PreK, helping the state better understand the supports, structure, and capacity needed to expand this model over time, said Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea, director of the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential.

According to a MiLEAP news release, home-based providers must meet established quality standards to participate. These include holding a Child Development Associate credential or demonstrating quality through Michigan’s Great Start to Quality improvement system.

Funded by Michigan’s Preschool Development Grant Birth-Five, the pilot will launch this spring and summer, with the potential to continue into the 2026-27 school year.  

“Every child deserves a strong start and thanks to our hard work and historic investments over half of Michigan four-year-olds are enrolled in the Great Start Readiness Program,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in the news release.  ”Now, we’re expanding to more locations ensuring all children and families can participate in PreK for All in the place that works best for their child and their family.”

Through Mi-LEAP’s new PreK for All Home-Based Pilot Initiative, Family Child Care Network hub organizations in southeast, southwest, and northern Michigan will support home-based providers and approximately 75 PreK for All spaces for children with funding, coaching, and quality resources, Walker-Griffea said.

The state is launching the pilot with a focus on communities where traditional, center-based programs are harder to sustain, including rural areas, regions with limited child care availability and the Upper Peninsula, where distance and lower population density can present unique challenges, she noted.  

These FCCN hub organizations were selected through a competitive request for proposal process to administer the pilot in their respective regions —

— Northwest Michigan Works! (in consortium with 4C of the UP) — serving Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee and Wexford counties, along with all counties in the Upper Peninsula.   

— Child Care Network – serving Genesee, Lenawee, Livingston, Monroe, and Washtenaw counties. 

— Southwest Child Care Resource & Referral – serving Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren counties. 

The National Institute for Early Education Research helped design the pilot, drawing on best practices, Walker-Griffea said. The pilot will include an evaluation to assess how home-based providers can best deliver PreK for All.

For more on PreK for All enrollment, go to MiPreKforAll.org.