MiLEAP Child Care Rule Public Hearing

MiLEAP Child Care Rule Review Ad Hoc

11.19.2024

Meeting type

Facilitator

1:30 p.m.

Child Care Rule Public Hearing

Erika Bigelow

TEAMS Platform

Notetaker

Shellee Carroll

Attendees

CCLB Staff/Public

Notes

This is a public hearing on proposed administrative rules,

entitled administrative rules for licensing rules for child

care centers. This hearing is being conducted pursuant to a

child Care Organization's Act 1973, PA 116, and on behalf

of the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and

Potential. This hearing's being called to order at 1:30 PM

on November 19th, 2024, at the Michigan Library and

Historical Center. This hearing was published in three

newspapers of general circulation as well as the Michigan

My name is Erika Bigelow and I will be facilitating the

hearing today. Please know we are here today to receive

your comments on the proposed rules. If you wish to

speak, please make sure you have signed in and indicated

your willingness to speak. We will call on speakers in the

order on which names are listed on the sign in sheets.

When you come forward to speak, please identify yourself

with your name, the organization you represent, and both

your mailing and e-mail address, so this information may

be transcribed into the hearing. Report if you have

additional comments to submit in writing, you may leave

them at the desk in the back or submit them for a

Erika Bigelow

department no later than 5:00 PM. November 22nd, 2024.

Each speaker will have a limit of three minutes to speak.

The information that you need to share. When you present

to share your comments and timer are on the overheads

for your convenience. With that, I will now call the speaker.

Ryan Wilkes Bridge St. Ministries.

Ryan Waalkes, US Bridge St. Ministries, 1034 Bridge St.

Grand Rapids, [email protected]; I want to start out. Just

saying thank you to the MiLEAP team for this process. Been

very transparent and vulnerable. I've been involved in a lot

of. The work groups that have been reviewing and

submitting some proposed revisions, and it's been a very

authentic and humble process. I appreciate that. Thank you

to the MiLEAP team for the tireless efforts they've given.

As a practitioner and somebody who's been involved in this

process, I want to propose one more addition to the

revised rule. And that would be to Part 8 for fire safety and

I'd like to propose an addition specifically to rule 400.8565

and that there's a list of exemptions for programs that are

operating in schools, in school buildings, and presumably

this is because school buildings would already have fire

safety inspections that are completed in the property.

Ryan Waalkes

(continued

below)

MiLEAP Child Care Rule Public Hearing

I would like to request and suggest, in addition, that

programs operate in commercial buildings or churches for

school age children, that have an existing and valid

occupancy permit be added to that exemption list. Reason

being, any such programs that operate in these type of

buildings will have gone through extensive inspections

already to get that occupancy permit. And by adding

exemptions to this rule, which would also include part 7,

table two, row D, which is the same exemption list. By

adding, these exemptions would be upholding the intent of

this rule to protect our children, which we as practitioners

have a vested interest in protecting our children. But it

would also provide a much more equitable and efficient

pathway to licensing. Our organization has chosen to

pursue licensing when this requirement was announced last

year for the 32 N grant recipients and rather than trying to

find loopholes and exemption which we decided to pursue

licensing and have done our due diligence. And just by way

of example, we at one of our facilities was fully renovated

four years ago. We made all existing building and fire code

to get our occupancy permit from the local fire authority.

Took one phone call in one week. Trying to pursue

inspections for fire safety regulations for this rule for

licensing and has taken us over three months.

Ryan Waalkes

(continued from

above)

Over 60-man hours. Phone calls, emails. We still don't have

inspections scheduled for one facility and these are four

facilities that are already certified by the local fire authority

or safe occupancy for this type of purpose. So I'll just ask

that these types of buildings, these type of programs in

current permitted facilities be added to the exemption list

to uphold the intent of the rule and create a more efficient

equitable pathway. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Jermaine Robinson.

Erika Bigelow

Jermaine

Robinson

I'm fine.

So you don't want to speak, right?

Any other speakers signed up at this time?

All right.

Erika Bigelow

Thank you.

Come on down. Thank you very much.

Another speaker Three mins to speak

MiLEAP Child Care Rule Public Hearing

Angelique Nichols – Michigan Afterschool Partnership, and

you have your partnership representing the Council 10

sector as well as our organization. My e-mail is Angelique

ANGLYQE.at mymiafterschool.org. So we have two

recommendations. We appreciate the implementation of the

suggestions that we've already submitted and just two

more we want to highlight for consideration, the first being

the school age, program administrator curriculum pathway.

Currently, we have three pathways that are listed in the

current draft, however, the minimum age requirements still

requires 21 and we would like to recommend reducing of

that age to 18, specifically because those pathways listed

currently, there are opportunities for young people

completing their CTE pathway as well as going throughout

an associate's degree that have the experience and

requirements necessary but the minimum age requirement.

So create the barriers for those young people. So we would

like to reduce the age. Then the second is of moving the

fire safety we do recommend currently the public and non-

public exemptions for fire safety inspections, but would like

to equally extend that exemption to commercial buildings

being churches and other buildings that already function

throughout the day, and then also supplement through

after school so they have the necessary inspections that

are needed for capacity and safety and health. So just

wanting to make those exemptions extendable to

Angelique

Nichols

commercial buildings as well. Thank you.

Erika Bigelow

Thank you.

Those are the names that I have written. Does anyone

else wish to come doesn’t and speak no one responded; We

can wait in case someone is late; you’re welcome to stay;

we’re going to pause for right now (1:40 pm)

(1:49 pm) Will wait for full hour for hearing. All are

welcome to stay

Erika Bigelow

MiLEAP Child Care Rule Public Hearing

So I went ahead to get a few things clarified, but I did

want to make a suggestion on. Erica Willard. I'm with the

Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children

Michigan AEYC, AEYC. And you can reach us at 839 cent.

Heading Way, Lansing, MI 48917 and reach me at EWillard

at MIAEYc.org. Again, we'll echo the others that have that

have said. Thank you for the process and the hearing

today. I would Michigan AFC is stand strong for the

foundation of developmentally appropriate practice for

children, and I know that is infused throughout in a couple

different places. One of the areas of concern that's been

raised by some of our members is around the lowering of

time out. The age of two versus three. So you know there

are methods of there are methods of discipline that are

more developmentally appropriate, especially for those

children between the ages of two and three. That would be

marketing. So we would ask that you reconsider that, into

the age of two for time out. Then the other thing that has

come up that would be helpful would be we noticed that

you left the charts in for the ratios. But the chart for the

staff qualifications in the program administered

Erica Willard

qualifications have been eliminated. And so it's really been

confusing for folks that have shared feedback with us to be

able to clearly see like what the qualifications are for the

teacher program administrator like they were in the

previous version. So I would just ask that you reconsider

putting the charts back in so it's very easy and fair to see

what those staff qualifications are.

Thank you.

Erika Bigelow

No further comments hearing closed 2:30 pm

Hearing closed at 2:30 pm