Our Current Early Education Ecosystem
Currently, there are roughly 52,000 children between the ages of 0 and 5 in the City of Detroit. Of these children, roughly 37,000 have parents who are participating in the workforce and therefore are in need of some form of childcare. Based on the current capacity of Detroit’s licensed home and center-based facilities, our current system has the capacity to provide formal care for roughly 18,500 children, leaving a gap of 18,500 Detroit children ages 0-5 still in need of care. The resulting impact means that we have over 12,000 parents in Detroit not fully engaging in the workforce due to inadequate access to childcare. The vast majority of this need is for children in the 0-3 age range who are not yet eligible for the state-funded preschool program, Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP).
In 2021, the state increased financial eligibility for GSRP to allow more families to access PreK at no cost and will continue to increase financial eligibility requirements over the coming four years until universal PreK for all 4 year olds is established. Over the next three years, Detroit Public Schools Community District has plans to add 1,000 additional GSRP seats to the PreK landscape in Detroit. This will be even more important with Governor Whitmer’s recent announcement of plans for universal PreK in the State of Michigan.
While progress is being made, we know the need is still here and urgent. In order to meet and fill this need, we must build capacity amongst Detroit’s community-based and home-based childcare providers, ensuring children have access to care that supports their healthy development and parents are able to fully engage in the workforce.
Early Childhood Incubator
We are committing (an initial) three years to building capacity in Detroit’s home-based and center-based childcare networks. This incubator will include the establishment of two cohort tracks focused on building the pipeline of entrepreneurs opening/leading:
Home-based childcare businesses
Center-based childcare business co-located in a non-profit or faith-based space while focusing on leveraging the existing assets and strengths of our communities
With two differentiated tracks, the incubator will include:
Strategic recruitment for each fellowship cohort
A nine-month fellowship experience
Embedded technical assistance and professional development
One year of individualized support and coaching following the fellowship to ensure a strong start for each program
Community Listening Sessions
Listening and Learning Together
At SCP, we believe in the power of listening and collaboration. In October 2024 we hosted community listening sessions to engage with parents, childcare providers, educators, and early childhood stakeholders. Together, we explored ideas and gathered insights for shaping our third incubator cohort. A special thank you, again, to our partners at Impact Church, Blessed Beginnings and Matrix Human Services, and Detroit Parent Network and Marygrove Early Education Center for teaming up to ensure we are one village–working together for our children, families, and greater community!
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