MI Tri-Share, Affordable Childcare for Michigan Families │ Cheryl Bergman

About the Episode The COVID-19 pandemic exposed a massive challenge for working parents: affordable and accessible childcare. However, Michigan state leadership saw an opportunity to tackle that challenge head-on by providing a way to split the cost of childcare between the state of Michigan, employers, and employees. Join Cheryl Bergman, the CEO of the Michigan Women's Commission, and Kaycee as they explore the ins and outs of the FIRST EVER state-wide cost-share program and how it's launched a nationwide phenomenon solution to affordable childcare for working parents. Key Takeaways Want to understand the critical issues of childcare? Survey the women in your workforce. Enlist regional hubs to assist in the administrative tasks. Build a network to advocate for working parents (employers, providers, working parents, regional hubs, state departments, legislatures). Make it easy for employers and childcare providers to utilize tools and resources; don't bog them down in administrative hurdles. Be strategic and implement a fierce advocacy campaign. When developing creative ways to combat the challenge of childcare, be flexible and listen to employers, childcare providers, and families about what the needs are in each avenue. Quotables "...everywhere we went, the women's priorities were economic security issues with affordable, accessible child care at the top of the list." "And I gotta tell you, there were a lot of tears on a lot of those calls because it was a struggle with all the child care facilities shutting down, schools closed women trying to work remotely and help their kids." "During the pandemic, more than 300, 000 women in Michigan left the workforce entirely." "...our employers are identifying that attraction and retention of employees is one of their top priorities right now." "...of the big things that we were piloting and trying to figure out will employers actually put skin in the game." "Build a coalition with all the voices..." "...one of our biggest barriers to getting employers signed on was just making sure they knew it was available." "Maybe the tri-share exactly how we're doing it isn't what will work in your community or in your state, but get everybody together and figure out what will work." Resouces & Links (In order of their mentioning) •https://www.michigan.gov/mwc •https://www.michigan.gov/mileap/early-childhood-education/mi-tri-share-child-care •https://grandrapids.org/news/tri-share/ •https://www.michigan.gov/mileap/-/media/Project/Websites/mwc/Tri-Share/MI-Tri-Share-Pilot-Evaluation-Report-FINAL.pdf?rev=b22e11e8ff544f4ba7666644447647fd •https://www.hscpoly.com/ •https://www.michigan.gov/mileap/early-childhood-education/cclb/caring-for-mi-future •https://www.michigan.gov/mileap/inside-mileap •https://trishare.org/ •https://www.michigan.gov/reconnect Special Guest: Cheryl Bergman.