North Central Michigan College Child Care Initiative Phase One Findings - Surveying Emmet County’s Child Care Landscape

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai

North Central Michigan College’s Child Care Initiative Phase One investigates Emmet County’s child care system through community-centered data collection. The report draws on employer surveys (96 leaders), parent/prospective parent surveys and focus groups (271 participants), and child care provider surveys (25 providers). Findings show a multifaceted shortage: families struggle to meet work schedules, care is often unaffordable and inconsistent in quality, and shortages reduce employer productivity and hiring capacity while reinforcing low wages and limited benefits for providers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Executive Summary

Methodology

Employer Survey

Parent and Prospective Parent Survey and Focus Groups

Child Care Provider Survey

Next Steps

End notes

North Central Michigan College Child Care Initiative Phase One Findings: Surveying Emmet County’s Child Care Landscape June 2023 Karen Ann Kling, Jennifer Wixson, Laura Tuthill, William D. Lopez Table of Contents Introduction....................................................................................................................3 Executive Summary........................................................................................................3 Methodology....................................................................................................................5 Employer Survey.............................................................................................................6 Parent and Prospective Parent Survey and Focus Groups.............................................9 Child Care Provider Survey........................................................................................... 15 Next Steps..................................................................................................................... 18 End notes........................................................................................................................21 Authors Karen Kling, Poverty Solutions Jennifer Wixson, North Central Michigan College Laura Tuthill, North Central Michigan College William D. Lopez, Poverty Solutions Acknowledgements Afton Branche-Wilson, Poverty Solutions Ruth Archer, Poverty Solutions Introduction Emmet County faces a dearth of affordable, quality child care options, with available child care having steadily declined over the past five years. In Michigan, there are about four children under age 12 for every available child care spot.1 The areas with the least child care availability are often rural and concentrated in northern Michigan, like Emmet County.2 The undersupply of child care is a systemic issue that impacts parents, prospective parents, local employers, and child care providers. The child care industry has long been devalued in the U.S. ,3 leaving the system underfunded and unsustainable in Emmet County and across the U.S. Yet, we know that high quality, affordable, and reliable child care is essential for the economic stability and mobility of families anywhere. Responding to this challenge, North Central Michigan College (NCMC) has launched its Child Care Initiative (CCI) Project to lead the development of a community-centered plan for a sustainable and viable local child care system in Emmet County.4 The first phase of this three-phase project focused on collecting data from the community about views, needs, and ideas for the future of Emmet County’s child care system. Collecting data on community opinions and experiences is essential to this project to ensure that resident needs are central to decision making and guide further research. Every community faces unique challenges to establishing a child care system. Thus, we must not only look at national and state level trends but collect data local to Emmet County to ensure solutions are tailor-made to the community, feasible for local implementation, and primed for sustainability. This report summarizes the findings from NCMC’s data collection efforts from phase one of the work, in partnership with Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan. We will use the data collected in phase one to begin developing and prototyping innovations for implementation and evaluation in future stages of work. Executive Summary We collected survey responses from 96 business leaders, 271 parents and prospective parents, and 25 child care providers who live or work in Emmet County. Results show the multifaceted nature of child care issues in the region and, at the same time, the willingness of partners across community groups to work together toward a solution. Families with young children are struggling to find the child care they need to support parents’ work schedules. When pa

FAQs

What problem does the report focus on in Emmet County?

The report focuses on the shortage of affordable, quality, and reliable child care options, and how this undersupply affects families, child care providers, and local employers.

What data sources were used in Phase One?

Phase One used three community samples: employer surveys (96 business leaders), parent and prospective parent surveys plus focus groups (271 participants), and child care provider surveys (25 providers) in Emmet County.

How do employer responses connect child care to business outcomes?

Employers report that inadequate child care makes recruiting qualified staff harder and affects productivity. Many also recognize that parents’ child care needs influence the local economy and workforce stability.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai