Michele Schmitt is the senior director of government relations and business development for Procare Solutions. In this role, she meets with legislators and other stakeholders in early childhood education to advocate for the industry and stay on top of what's happening in government, both at the federal and local levels, in policy and proposals.
In this episode, Michele breaks down a recent visit to Capitol Hill and gives an update of what child care center leaders and families should be paying attention to in the coming months.
She also explains initiatives happening in different states to come up with solutions for needed funding and delves into how shared services can help child care providers run their businesses.
For more information on what grants and resources are available in your state, check out the Procare Solutions state resources page to see what options you have for funding help!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Childcare
Business Podcast. My name isLeah Woodbury, and we are so
happy to have you join ustoday. We are thrilled to have
on this episode, MichelleSchmidt with us. She is ProCare
Solutions Senior Director ofGovernment Relations and
Business Development. So shedoes a lot of things in this
(00:32):
job, and a big part of her workis advocating for ECE at the
government level. So todayshe's gonna fill us in on
what's happening in Washingtonand beyond with childcare
funding, just a small littlesubject, you know, and
other PO and other policychanges that childcare center
leaders need to know about. So,welcome, Michelle.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Thank you. I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Oh, great. Well, we always like to start these
podcasts, getting a little bitof background on our guests. So
could you tell us what led youdown the ECE path?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Sure. So , um, many years ago, I think 31 we're
talking about now , um, uh,1994, I was actually a , uh,
afterschool teacher duringcollege, and literally , um,
just continued the path. Idon't think I ever imagined
that my life would probably endup in ECE. Um, I think I ended
(01:27):
up there by accident , um, butenjoyed every minute of it. Um,
so I've been in the industrysince 1994 from the afterschool
teacher up to , um, regionaland corporate operations , um,
across 8, 9, 10 states at onepoint, and the entire United
States at one point. So, yeah,it's been a , it's been an
(01:48):
indus , uh, a very interestingjourney, for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah. So you've seen a lot of change then I have
during that time. Mm-hmm . Okay .
. Mm-hmm .
Absolutely. So speak . So let'sshift a little bit mm-hmm . Um,
and get some background onwhat's going on as far as ECE
and government funding. Right .
It's a big question, but canyou walk us through the
government funding and policychanges that we've seen in the
(02:14):
last few years, and maybe startwith federal funding?
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Sure. So on the federal funding side, I don't
think it's , um, any secretthat, obviously through covid ,
um, in the last five years,we've seen a huge shift in that
kind of funding, right? Mm-hmm . So during
Covid, it was more aboutpreserving the industry , um,
stabilizing it through a periodwhich was very uncertain for
families, employers, employees.
(02:40):
Um, I think that five yearsreally redefined not only the
industry, but also familychoice, right? Mm-hmm
. Um, it was,where are we going, what are we
gonna do, and how are we gonnaget there? Um, when it came to
families and their children andeducation, so the, I think the
, on the federal side, theyfelt the need to really make
(03:01):
sure that there was some stableground right through that
period so that we could getthrough it. So when we came out
of it, we were not necessarilyin a better place, but at least
where we started, right beforeCovid hit , um, a lot of money
was put into the industry , um,during the Covid period. Um,
and I mean, we saw some, likeC-C-D-B-G , which is the
(03:24):
Childcare Development Blockgrant, which is generally kind
of that state bank account thatthe federal government gives
the state and says, okay,here's your money. Uhhuh
. Um , we sawabout a $725 million increase
in , in that grant during thattime period of covid, right?
Mm-hmm . Um, andreally kind of understanding
what that's going to look likeeven after that. Um, I think
(03:47):
that the unfortunate part is itdidn't necessarily , um, put us
in a better place, thechildcare industry , um,
because it suffered so muchthrough the last five years
that I think that was a , adrop in the hat, right? Kind of
a penny in the jar. Um, and sonow what we're looking at is,
(04:08):
okay, now that we've got thesituation where we either have
childcare industry that haschildcare providers that have
closed, because they could notsustain through that time
period, even with that amountof funding. And then at the
same time, we've got the otherside of the coin where we've
got families that can't affordit, right? There's this gap of
, um, what it costs to run itand what a family can actually
(04:31):
afford. Um, I know a lot ofpeople call it a sweet spot. I
don't, it's not so sweet , um, because it's that
, it's that part that, youknow, families are starting to
make choices between this orthat, and unfortunately,
childcare is usually part ofthat conversation. Um, and
making decisions on whether ornot both, both parents are
gonna work or not work. Um, soall of those aspects kind of
(04:54):
fall into that federal fundingbucket discussion. Um, and I
think states are trying toreally understand what that
looks like for theirconstituents and their families
and their state, because everystate operates just a little
bit different. So I , you know,I think, you know, is there a
magic number that will pull itto a better place? I don't
know. I, I think it's, it'sgoing to be a long-term , um,
(05:17):
investment on the federalgovernment side and really kind
of assessing what that supportlooks like. Um, I don't think
it's handing out, you know,millions and millions of
dollars without some sort ofkind of boundaries of here's
where we want this invested,here's where we want this to
go. Um, I think there needs tobe guidance around that , um,
(05:38):
so that we can make sure it's along term investment situation,
right?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah. And so that's a great primer on what's
happening federally, and you,you started touching on this,
what about at the state level?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, so at the state level, you know, every
state operates differently,right? Yeah . Mm-hmm
. Um , they ,they have the autonomy to be
able to understand what theyneed to do with their funding
that they get from the federalgovernment. So every state does
something a little differently.
You have some that kind ofspread that leadership down to
the local level. Like inFlorida , um, in Texas, you've
(06:13):
got 30 different organizationsin the state that are
responsible for that funding,and then they handle how that
goes into their markets and totheir families and to their
providers. Um, and then youhave other states where they
handle it at the state level,right? Um, where it's one big
bucket and they decide, okay,here's where we're gonna put
this money, here's where we'regonna put this money, and
here's where we're gonna putthis money. So every state,
(06:35):
that's probably a little bit,it's, it's kind of a puzzle
where you don't necessarilyhave all the pieces because
every state's gonna do it alittle bit differently. Um, and
so I think it would just dependon, you know, the specific
state that we may be talkingabout, right? Um, every state ,
um, understands it's an issue.
(06:55):
Every state wants it to be apriority. Um, whether or not
they decide to offer taxcredits or , um, do C-C-D-B-G ,
which is the childcare Blockdevelopment grant, which
usually supports funding forfamilies that can't afford
childcare mm-hmm. Um, then they decide where
(07:16):
they wanna put that money andhow is it going to help, you
know, their families and theirproviders. So, like I said,
every state's a little bitdifferent, and I think some
states have been focused onmixed delivery. What does mixed
delivery look like? I thinkmixed delivery is, you know,
elementary schools being ableto provide some sort of
childcare , um, UPK, privateschools, nonprofits , um,
(07:39):
for-profits , um, that all ofthose pieces are really needed
in order to really fit the needof the families that are in
that state. And so they, youknow, have to figure out what
does that look like and how dowe support it? Um , and I think
some states are actuallymoving, being very creative in
the space because theirunderstanding that their
economy in their state is veryreliant on the childcare
(08:03):
industry, right? Yep . It's ifthat, if those employees that
they wanna hire don't havechildcare, then hiring that
employee becomes difficult,right? Mm-hmm.
And so all of a sudden, I thinkeven after Covid childcare has
been at the table of all thestate leaders in some form or
fashion , um, and so, you know,we're talking about childcare
(08:26):
deserts, right? So we've hadmany childcare providers close
as a result of not being ableto sustain their business. So
it's kind of created this , um,conundrum around, we don't have
enough childcare, but if wedid, are we still able to make
it affordable so that familieswill wanna work and go to work
and leave their child inchildcare , right? Mm-hmm
(08:47):
. Um , so alllooks a little bit different.
Some states, like I said, to goback to my first comment , I
think some states have actuallybeen creative around, okay, how
do we do a longstandingsustainability, you know , um,
support and some have, haveeven talked about doing a
payroll tax in their state thatis specifically dedicated to
(09:09):
the childcare arena.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Was that Vermont?
Was Vermont doing that? Am Iremembering that right? It was
Vermont . Okay .
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yeah . Yeah. So Vermont has created this , um,
you know, payroll tax forlong-term support in their
state , um, which is creative,and I don't know that we've
ever heard of such a thing,right? That's very dedicated
funding and very focused on oneof the issues that they feel is
part of their, you know, issuein their state to get employees
(09:34):
back to work.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Can you give a couple of other example ?
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Excuse me?
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Oh, yeah. Can you give a couple other examples of
what some, some of the creative,
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Um , things
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Happening? Yeah .
So,
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah. So Iowa is another one. Um, the Iowa
leadership, state of Iowaleadership have really
invested, I believe it wassomewhere to the tune of, I may
be wrong, but $8 million, Ibelieve, okay . Um , where they
went in and revamped theirentire funding , um, machine,
right? So the, all of their ,um, programs and their systems
(10:09):
were not linked together,right? Okay . So you had, you
know, you had the subsidyfunding system over here. You
had the , um, food programsystem over here. You had , um,
you know , uh, all the childrenfocused and family focused
systems were not connected. Sohe came in and he said, I want
(10:29):
all of those to be connected.
We need to have kind of onebrain system brain in the
middle that everything isconnected. So it comes through
so that those systems can talkso that we can, you know , when
we make legislation changes or, um, we wanna invest, then it
affects all parts of thesystem, not just one part over
(10:49):
here or one part over here,right? Mm-hmm .
And so it's called the C3 , um,very creative. A lot of states
are looking to Iowa as, youknow, part of that , um, you
know, really creative approachto how we support the industry.
Um, you see some things comingout of Indiana, Montana, most
(11:10):
recently, Montana's trying tosupport , um, the childcare
industry. They do not have alot of coordinated childcare ,
you know, focus in Montana,haven't, and so recently they
have created this , um, systemto be able to do some business
coaching around, you know,childcare and what that looks
like and how they can impactthat business in their state.
(11:32):
Um, because as you know,Montana's very widespread.
Yeah. So , um, a lot of land
Speaker 2 (11:39):
A lot.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
It's still a lot of families and children to take
care of. So , um, you're justhearing those conversations
come out , um, at the statelevel. And those are
conversations I'm having withstate leaders to talk about,
you know, what we can do tosupport them in that, you know,
process and how do they moveforward. Um, some of the other
states, Arizona , um, anotherstate that has done some very
(12:03):
interesting , um, projectsaround , uh, connection, API
connections and getting themoney, the subsidy funding to
the provider quicker, right?
Mm-hmm . So thatbilling, you know, getting rid
of that lag in time from thetime that a child attends. And
then if they're a subsidyfamily or a subsidy child
that's getting support from thestate, then how do we get that
(12:26):
money from the state back tothe provider for providing that
care? Because there is, therehas been historically this gap
of 30 to 45 days and just apaperwork processing, right? So
it's really a large discussionaround automation , um, and
what does that look like, andhow do we help states do that?
(12:46):
So that is coming out of a lot. Texas is another one that's
doing that. Um, so definitely alot of interesting
conversations and people reallyhaving , um, some out of the
box thinking when it came tothe industry. I don't think
it's a one size fits all . Ithink it's going to take many
ideas coming to the table andfiguring out what fits , um,
(13:09):
and how we're best going to,you know, preserve the
industry.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah. That's gonna be really interesting to see
mm-hmm . Whichones take off in the next few
years and absolutely . Reallyshow they can work mm-hmm
.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Mm-hmm . Absolutely.
For sure.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
And you recently returned from a trip to
Washington with a bunch ofother ECE leaders mm-hmm
. Um , can youtalk about what you were, what
you were doing there, and whatkind of response you got, who
you met with, everything youcan share? Yeah ,
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Yeah, absolutely.
So, quarterly we get together ,um, we sit on the board for the
ECEC , um, and we get togetherquarterly to discuss kind of
what's going on in theindustry, right? Mm-hmm
. Um, and whatbetter place to do that than at
the heart of the nation, right?
In Washington dc And part ofthe reason we do that is
(13:58):
because we wanna be at a armslength of the leaders that are
making the decisions mm-hmm . And as part of
our meetings, we actuallyschedule a hill day, which
means all of us in the roomthis year or this recent Q1 ,
um, meeting, we had about 60 to65 , um, people at the table.
And we actually had scheduled60 plus meetings with either
(14:23):
members or , uh, leaders in theSenate and the house. Um, and
basically what happens is, iswe go up on, you know , one day
outta the three day meeting, weare dedicated to going up to
the hill and going from meetingto meeting , talking to leaders
about what the industry needs,what's important to providers,
(14:44):
what's important to families,what's important to, you know,
some of the, you know, thesupply providers, right? Mm-hmm
. Mm-hmm . Um, and we have
the loudest voices in the room,and we have the, the lowest
voices in the room, right? Wehave people that are
representing family childcare,we have people that are
representing corporatechildcare. We have everybody in
the middle. Um, and so wereally have discussions with
(15:07):
those leaders around what itlooks like, what it feels like,
kind of the word on the street,and , um, what does the
industry need , um, and wheredo they go from here? It's not
something they probably thinkabout every day , but it's
something we think about everyday. And so we really try to
bring that to the forefront andhave those conversations with
(15:28):
those leaders and say, youknow, here's what the future
should look like. Here's whatwe need to make that happen.
Um, here's what our familiesare suffering with. Here's what
our providers are sufferingwith, and we need to figure out
how to bring that all togetherand really, you know, come to a
better place in the industry.
Yeah . Um , and we talk aboutbills that have been drawn up ,
(15:51):
um, by some of the committeemembers, and , um, what bills
we support, what bills weprovide, kind of color around
that. What does that mean,right? So, yeah . When , when a
leader looks at a bill or looksat a proposal and a committee
meeting, you know, it's okay,what does this mean for my
families of Georgia, ofFlorida, of Texas, of
(16:13):
California, of Indiana mm-hmm . Um , and who is
there to represent all of thatto say, here's what's
happening. Here's what we know,and here's what we believe
could be best. Right? Um, andreally encouraging them and
kind of arming them with their, um, story or argument to
(16:33):
bring to the committee or tothe floor to say, yes, we need
to pass this bill. Yes, thisneeds to go, and here's why. So
we're providing them kind ofthat narrative around that and
hoping that it makes it far. So
Speaker 2 (16:46):
What kind of response did you get during
these meetings?
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Great response. I think . I don't think there's,
I don't think there's anyonethat we talk to that doesn't
have a child in their life,doesn't have a parent in their
life, doesn't have a teacher intheir life, right? Uhhuh ,
. So I, I thinkwe really hit kind of some of
those nerves around, you know,this hits home for everybody.
There's nobody in this roomthat doesn't have exposure to
(17:13):
any one of those pieces. Um,and, you know, the response is
, wow, I'd never really thoughtabout it that way. Or if they
are a leader of the discussion,right? 'cause they do have
education committee membersthat we spoke to, they are very
in tune with it. And they'relike, okay, tell me more about
this, because I, I really wantto understand that. I really
(17:34):
wanna bring that to the floor.
I really wanna make sure thatI'm really in tune with what's
happening today mm-hmm . And what could
happen tomorrow. So tell memore about X, Y , ZPDQ , right?
Mm-hmm . So you ,it's kind of, you , it runs the
gamut. You have those that havenot maybe be , maybe they've
been focused on other, youknow, topics or discussions,
(17:55):
and childcare's been there, butnot like at the top. Um, those
are saying, wow, I, I neverreally thought about that.
Others are like, I absolutelyhave thought about this. I live
this every day, and I wannaknow more, and I wanna hear
about it. So I think we heard,generally everyone cares about
it. I don't think there's not,there's one person up there
(18:15):
that says, oh, it's notimportant. That absolutely is
not the case. Um, everybodybelieves it's important.
Everybody wants to findanswers. It's just a matter of
finding out what the rightanswer is , um, and what , what
the right mix is. So , um, itwas good news. It was very
energetic. I think , um, youknow, going in there kind of
(18:37):
reignites the passion that I'vehad for this industry for 31
years. And so every, I neverimagined, you know, back in
1994 or 2000 that I would everbe walking the streets of DC
and walking into arepresentative's office and
saying, here's why this isimportant, and here's why we
need to do this. Um, I neverimagined myself in that space,
(18:57):
but , um, I think if you'rethat passionate about
something, then you takeaction, right? Yeah. Um , and
that's, you know, part of thereason why I joined ProCare. I
wanted to have impact. I wantedto have a different level of
impact mm-hmm .
Um , and so it , it's veryenergizing to go up there and
represent, you know, all thepeople that we do , um, the
(19:20):
providers, the families, theteachers, the business owners,
the states for that mattermm-hmm . Mm-hmm
. Um , it's veryenergizing
Speaker 2 (19:27):
And to be around all the other people in the
industry too. I mean, oh ,yeah. That have the same, the
same passion as you do.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
And we definitely, you know,this time we did have a, a
reception , um, at the Hillmm-hmm . Um , the
first five years fund , um,sponsored it. And we had some
leaders come in, somerepresentatives come in and
talk to the group, and it waseveryone from across the
industry, not just the ECECgroup, it was people from all
(19:57):
over, right? Mm-hmm . Um , all the
nonprofits, all the , um, stateleadership, all , um, you know,
we had some shared servicesrepresentatives in there. We
had , um, any aspect thattouches childcare , we, they
were in there. I enjoyed , youknow, multiple conversations
with providers that came thatreally want their voice heard,
(20:18):
right? Mm-hmm .
So one provider out of Montanahas , um, actually expanded her
business, and she's a familyprovider, and she had her
house. She decided, you know,there wasn't childcare when she
had her children, and so shedecided to open her home up for
childcare. Mm-hmm. Well, she now, four years
(20:38):
later, has purchased threehomes around her in addition to
her home. And she actually has,in essence, five childcare
centers right there in, in her,you know, on the land that she
owns. Um , wow. Which wasinteresting. Yeah. I mean, you
look at , you look at somebodywho's, you know, you talk about
(20:58):
being creative, right? And shewas telling us all about kind
of what each home, what agegroup is in each home, and how
she manages it, and whatsupport she needs in order to
do that. And, you know, we justreally encouraged her. We were,
we were very fortunate to comeacross her path, and , um, we
encouraged her and thanked herfor being creative and being ,
(21:20):
um, brave and stepping outthere to help her, you know,
her neighborhood and her mm-hmm . Families that
are around her. And she offershigh quality childcare to the
families of Montana. And, youknow, we definitely encouraged
her, and she's getting ready toopen a center , um, like a one
site center. And so she's gonnabe pulling those in there and
then providing her homes as ,um, rental opportunities for
(21:44):
her teachers, right? Because itis in the industry, the
teachers don't make what theyabsolutely deserve to make,
right. Because we have this,you know, what parents can
afford and what we, you know,need to run the business. And
she felt like it was importantfor her to take kind of that
next step and say, if any of myteachers need, you know, a
(22:05):
place to rent or whatever, thenthat's an opportunity that she
could take those homes aftershe moves into her center and
actually rent those out toteachers so that they can
continue to stay with her. Andthat's how she keeps, you know,
that's kind of her employeelongevity plan, right? Yeah .
Investing in her employees . Sovery creative, very, it's
(22:26):
amazing what you come across inthis industry , um, with people
and what they're willing to doand put on the line in order to
help families and , um, helpchildren.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah. I think that commitment is something you
don't see in a lot of otherindustries. No , for sure. For
sure. No ,
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Very , very interesting.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
And you, you touched a little bit on shared
services, and I wondered if youwould mind talking maybe just a
little bit about that. I thinkthat's something a lot of
people really aren't aware of .
Sure . And yeah, if you couldjust kind of give a quick
overview of what it is, whatyou're seeing, I think that
might really help theconversation too.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Absolutely. So shared services , um, has
really kind of surfaced overthe last, I would say probably
the last 10 years. We'veprobably seen a , a huge uptick
in this. Um , because theindustry is so strapped when it
comes to , um, uh, being ableto really afford kind of all
(23:21):
the services that you need torun a business, right? Mm-hmm
. Your hr, yourmarketing, your, you know, all
the things, right? Your financedepartment, all those things.
And, and for a highly regulatedbusiness that that's risky,
right? It's like, okay,understanding one person that
owns it. I am the marketing, Iam the hr, I am the CFO, I am
(23:42):
the CEO . Um, so what hashappened is these states,
again, another creative way,right? States and nonprofit
organizations have cometogether and said, how do we
support that? How do we helpthese business owners that are
kind of the one, one and all,they're everything to their
business mm-hmm .
Um, and so they've createdthese opportunities and funding
(24:05):
opportunities for sharedservices to actually do
business coaching and providesome of that kind of back
office administrative support,right? Everything from, like I
said, HR to , um, automation to, uh, teacher training to
quality, you know, how toimprove quality in your
(24:26):
business, all the things thatgo into making a business very
successful, at least in thechildcare industry. Yeah . Um ,
and so these shared serviceshave come up and have really
kind of gathered the resourcesfor their local , um, groups to
be able to support the industryand somehow give them that
boost they need in order tosustain their business. Um, and
(24:48):
so you'll see that across, youknow, you see states creating
those shared services in thespace of , um, the funding,
like the, you know, Florida andthe Texas. Um, and then you
also have nonprofits coming upof people that really kind of
wanna have that next level ,um, touch on the industry. And
so they're going out andseeking grants and , um,
(25:10):
getting foundations to come inand support to actually open up
kind of a nonprofit , um,childcare shared service going
in and helping boost all thoselevers, right? Mm-hmm
. Mm-hmm . Um, because
it's very hard for one owner tobe able to boost all those
levers at the same time , um,without some sort of support or
some sort of help outside thecenter or outside the home. Um,
(25:33):
so yeah, that shared servicespace is becoming a very hot
topic. Yeah. Um , I think we'regoing to see that increase ,
um, astronomically over thenext couple of years, because I
think that that's going to bethat thoroughfare of, okay, if
this then this, right? So it's,we can do funding, however we
(25:53):
need to offer some businesscoaching around how, what does
that funding do and where do weput it, and how do we get the
most bang for our buck, right?
Mm-hmm. Um , it'show do we improve quality?
Quality has become a big topicas well , um, because obviously
childcare is childcare, whichis a benefit to parents, but at
the same time, you're educatingthe leaders of tomorrow. Yeah.
(26:15):
Right? So that's a heavy lift.
I mean, and so we wanna makesure that anybody who is
opening a childcare center isthinking has quality at front
of mind, right? Quality inemployees, quality in in
environments, quality ineducation , um, curriculum, all
the things , um, that make thatbusiness successful. Um, so
(26:37):
yeah, I think shared servicesis gonna be a hot topic for a
long time , um, from here onout. Um, and we'll continue to
see that , uh, group grow, Ithink, not only on the state
level, but then on a locallevel as well , um, and on the
foundation level.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Yeah. Yeah. So based on what you've seen in your
work, the people you've spokenwith, what, what you heard in
DC mm-hmm . Whatare some of the biggest bills
or other issues that ECEleaders need to be keeping
track of? And I'm sure there'sa long, long, long list. Oh ,
there is . Yeah .
Speaker 3 (27:11):
There is , um, probably the two hottest
topics, which are the topicsthat we talked about when we
were there. Um, uhhuh , you know, a
couple of weeks ago , um, wasthe , uh, C-D-C-D-C-T-C
, I have to say that 10times my without chirping .
Yeah. Um, and basically whatthat is, is the , um, child
(27:32):
dependent care tax credit. SoC-D-C-T-C , um, you'll hear
about it, you'll hear manyleaders talking about it. Um,
basically what that is, isthere's an allowance that
allows parents to write off ,um, childcare expenses, right?
Mm-hmm . Um, andthat has not been rewritten or
touched in over 20 years. Andso much of our conversations
(27:55):
when we were in DC was aroundthis tax credit and
understanding this is a waythat we can help families
because it , it's kind of a,it's an opportunity to give
some of their money back aroundthe investments that they make
all year long, right? Mm-hmm . Into their
children and their children'seducation. So , um, basically
what we did was we asked thebill had , the bill has been
(28:18):
written , um, and we went inoffering support around that to
actually double that forfamilies , um, up to $6,000 and
$12,000 for two plus childrenfamilies. Um, so basically
giving them that tax credit atthe end of the year when they
file their taxes, they're ableto write those , um, expenses
off. Um, we believe that thatwould be a huge opportunity for
(28:41):
parents , um, to give them someof their money back and , and
some of their tax obligation ,um, and at the same time give
them some relief, right? Yeah.
Um, so that's probably one ofthe, the larger , um, pieces of
discussion on the hill rightnow is the C-D-C-T-C.
Okay ? Okay . Child dependentcare, tech credit . Okay . The
(29:02):
second one is , um, section 45F , um, section 45 F is on the
employer side of , um, of thechildcare businesses. Um, so
basically it's offering a , um,tax credit to employers that
provide some sort of childcarebenefit, right? Oh, okay. So
whether it's constructing,renovating and onsite , um, we
(29:25):
know not everybody's gonna beable to do that. Um, but also
offsetting operating costs fora childcare center , um, or
even contracting with achildcare provider near maybe
an office space , um, thatgives that employer the
opportunity to actually get atax credit for doing that. Um,
so it's twofold, right? Mm-hmm . It's giving
(29:46):
that employer the opportunityto have some tax benefit, but
then it's also kind of forcingthe hand to offer some sort of
employer benefit , um, whichthen helps the employee, which
helps the children, which helpsthe providers, right? Because
everybody Yeah. Everybodybenefits from that. Yeah . So ,
um, the section 45 F wasanother one that we had large
(30:09):
discussions about on the hill ,um, that we're hoping we can,
you know, get some tractionunder , um, just to kind of
help all, all the pieces thatare moving, right? Um, that's
the part that we wanted tobring up and really have some
discussion about. So we kind ,we kind of assess , we, we
addressed like the two largestpieces of the childcare
(30:31):
business, right? The familyuhhuh and the business. Um, and
that's kind of the goal. Idon't think anybody believes
that helping one or the otheris gonna fix the problem. It's,
we need both sides, right? Yeah. We've gotta somehow give
families relief and we've gottasomehow give providers relief
at the same time,
Speaker 2 (30:48):
For sure. So what did I not ask you that I should
have or do ? Oh , goodness.
.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
I don't know . Um,
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Uh , or do you want listeners to take away from
this podcast? It's such, it'ssuch a big topic, such a , yeah
. Important topic. And it feelslike so much is always changing
with it too. It
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Is. It absolutely is. You know, I, I think we're
all guilty of thinking, well,you know, my voice doesn't
matter. Um, I think that's theone thing that I would want
everybody to take away fromthis, is every voice matters in
this situation. Um, from theteacher to the, you know, the
site leader, to a director, toan owner , um mm-hmm
(31:28):
. To the businessleaders, to shared services,
all the voices matter. Um, andif there's one thing that I
would want anybody to take awayfrom this is, you know, get
involved, get active with theleadership of your state , um,
the leadership of your county,childcare is at every level
right now. And so we need alarge voice out there to say,
(31:51):
we've got to somehow cometogether and figure out how to
fix it, how to help, how tosupport it , um, how to make it
better , um, how to make itaffordable. Um , yeah . And
like I said, I don't thinkthere's any human that doesn't
have any piece of that or hashasn't heard any piece of that
from someone, whether it betheir family or friends or
neighbors or, you know,community members. Um, so I
(32:14):
think that's the one thing is Iencourage you, your voice
matters. And when you starthearing kind of some rumblings
around that in your localcommunity or even, you know,
maybe the associations you'rein , um, definitely get
involved. Make sure that you'rea part of those conversations.
Make sure that you're going torepresent your families and
your children , um, becausethat's what's going to help
(32:37):
make this better, right? Yeah .
That's what, that's how we aregoing to know that we're moving
in the right direction, is ifwe can get everybody's voice
heard. Um, so yeah, I, I thinkthat's, that's my ask is get
involved , um, and make sureyou're there answering the
surveys. If a survey comesacross your screen, make sure
(32:58):
you answer it, make sure youknow it , it , ask your
families to answer it. Um ,mm-hmm . That's,
I think those are the things,you know, we're going to be
looking for a lot of data.
Everybody's gonna be lookingfor data to really understand
the scope and the landscape ,um, of what needs to happen
next. So,
Speaker 2 (33:17):
And we're still doing the, is it the quarterly
calls with ECEC on champions ofmixed delivery? Can you, can
you talk a little bit aboutwhat happens on those, those
calls, the information that'sshared?
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Yeah. So, you know, really talking about mixed
delivery, because again, itgoes back to not any one piece
is gonna be the answer. I thinkit's mm-hmm .
It's going to take everybody.
Um, and you know, those change,right? Elementary schools,
their population changes yearafter year. So there's space
changes year after year. So Idon't think there's any one
(33:50):
answer. I think if we can makesure that we continue to
support that mixed delivery,then we can have everybody kind
of coexist and we're able tomeet the needs of families.
Yeah , that's the importantpart that's at the , that's at
the cornerstone of that entireconversation, is we can't,
we're already at a situa acritical situation where we
(34:10):
don't have enough, and unlesswe're able to have that mixed
delivery, are we going to beable to meet that mm-hmm
. Um , and soreally making sure that we have
that available to everybody,right? So we have Head Start ,
we have C-C-B-B-G , we have,you know , um, nonprofit
centers, we have familychildcare centers, we have
elementary schools, we haveprivate schools, we have all
(34:32):
the things, and there arefamilies, and families need
choice. I I think that there'san opportunity for a family to
really assess what environmentthey want their child in, and
they need to have the abilityto make that. Um, and so that's
also at the cornerstone of thatmixed delivery conversation, is
making sure that families havechoice and making sure that ,
(34:54):
um, there's opportunities andthere's choice for them to have
, um, in what space they wantto go into.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
And I'll share a link to that call in the , um,
show notes of this podcast too,so you can keep track of it.
And we do po we post reminderson , um, the ProCare Facebook
and Instagram pages and that tokind of , to help with as well.
Is there any other website orresources that you'd recommend
to follow along to see what's,what's going on? Um , the CC ,
(35:24):
um,
Speaker 3 (35:25):
Yeah, I don't, we generally try to really , um,
put out this informationbecause we are at the front
lines of it. So yeah , wegenerally share that
information across allplatforms, right? Uhhuh ,
. So , um, all ofyour Naces, your NCAs, your
childcare aware , your , um,state organizations , um,
(35:46):
shared service groups , um, weshare that information across
the board. So really, ifthere's any , um, website or
any organization that you'refollowing, generally speaking,
you're gonna find , you'regonna have , this information's
gonna seep down to that level.
Um, usually it takes about twoweeks, two to three weeks that
(36:07):
you'll start seeing kind ofthis information come across
very many channels, right? Yeah. Because again, we're trying
to really make sure that thatgrassroots gets out , um, and
everybody, you know, isspeaking the same language and,
and becoming one voice , um,and representing many voices.
So , uh, I think anyorganization that you're a part
(36:28):
of in this industry, you'll seeit.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Okay. And we'll also share in the , um, the show
notes , um, here at ProCareSolutions, we made a part of
our website that breaks downstate by state resources as
well. So hopefully that'sabsolutely helpful as well.
Absolutely. Yeah. Well ,Michelle, thank you so much for
joining us today. This was alot of really good information
that you packed into a shorttime, so we Sure . We
(36:53):
appreciate it. And thank youfor the work you're doing to
advocate for everyone, andwe'll ,
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Absolutely. Leah , I enjoy being here, and thank you
for having me.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Yes. And thanks again, everybody. Keep, stay
tuned. Subscribe to theChildcare Business Podcast.
We've got a lot more greatstuff coming up. Uh, thanks for
all the work you do to , um,educate our young learners and
to be such a vital part of oureconomy. Have a great day,
everyone. We'll see you nexttime. Bye.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Childcare
Business Podcast. My name isLeah Woodbury, and we are so
happy to have you join ustoday. We are thrilled to have
on this episode, MichelleSchmidt with us. She is ProCare
Solutions Senior Director ofGovernment Relations and
Business Development. So shedoes a lot of things in this
(00:32):
job, and a big part of her workis advocating for ECE at the
government level. So todayshe's gonna fill us in on
what's happening in Washingtonand beyond with childcare
funding, just a small littlesubject, you know,
other PO and other policychanges that childcare center
leaders need to know about. So,welcome, Michelle.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Thank you. I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Oh, great. Well, we always like to start these
podcasts, getting a little bitof background on our guests. So
could you tell us what led youdown the ECE path?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Sure. So , um, many years ago, I think 31 we're
talking about now , um, uh,1994, I was actually a , uh,
afterschool teacher duringcollege, and literally , um,
just continued the path. Idon't think I ever imagined
that my life would probably endup in ECE. Um, I think I ended
(01:27):
up there by accident , um, butenjoyed every minute of it. Um,
so I've been in the industrysince 1994 from the afterschool
teacher up to , um, regionaland corporate operations , um,
across 8, 9, 10 states at onepoint, and the entire United
States at one point. So, yeah,it's been a , it's been an
(01:48):
indus , uh, a very interestingjourney, for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah. So you've seen a lot of change then I have
during that time. Mm-hmm
. Mm-hmm
Absolutely. So speak . So let'sshift a little bit mm-hmm . Um,
and get some background onwhat's going on as far as ECE
and government funding. Right .
It's a big question, but canyou walk us through the
government funding and policychanges that we've seen in the
(02:14):
last few years, and maybe startwith federal funding?
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Sure. So on the federal funding side, I don't
think it's , um, any secretthat, obviously through covid ,
um, in the last five years,we've seen a huge shift in that
kind of funding, right? Mm-hmm
Covid, it was more aboutpreserving the industry , um,
stabilizing it through a periodwhich was very uncertain for
families, employers, employees.
(02:40):
Um, I think that five yearsreally redefined not only the
industry, but also familychoice, right? Mm-hmm
gonna do, and how are we gonnaget there? Um, when it came to
families and their children andeducation, so the, I think the
, on the federal side, theyfelt the need to really make
(03:01):
sure that there was some stableground right through that
period so that we could getthrough it. So when we came out
of it, we were not necessarilyin a better place, but at least
where we started, right beforeCovid hit , um, a lot of money
was put into the industry , um,during the Covid period. Um,
and I mean, we saw some, likeC-C-D-B-G , which is the
(03:24):
Childcare Development Blockgrant, which is generally kind
of that state bank account thatthe federal government gives
the state and says, okay,here's your money. Uhhuh
in , in that grant during thattime period of covid, right?
Mm-hmm
what that's going to look likeeven after that. Um, I think
(03:47):
that the unfortunate part is itdidn't necessarily , um, put us
in a better place, thechildcare industry , um,
because it suffered so muchthrough the last five years
that I think that was a , adrop in the hat, right? Kind of
a penny in the jar. Um, and sonow what we're looking at is,
(04:08):
okay, now that we've got thesituation where we either have
childcare industry that haschildcare providers that have
closed, because they could notsustain through that time
period, even with that amountof funding. And then at the
same time, we've got the otherside of the coin where we've
got families that can't affordit, right? There's this gap of
, um, what it costs to run itand what a family can actually
(04:31):
afford. Um, I know a lot ofpeople call it a sweet spot. I
don't, it's not so sweet
, it's that part that, youknow, families are starting to
make choices between this orthat, and unfortunately,
childcare is usually part ofthat conversation. Um, and
making decisions on whether ornot both, both parents are
gonna work or not work. Um, soall of those aspects kind of
(04:54):
fall into that federal fundingbucket discussion. Um, and I
think states are trying toreally understand what that
looks like for theirconstituents and their families
and their state, because everystate operates just a little
bit different. So I , you know,I think, you know, is there a
magic number that will pull itto a better place? I don't
know. I, I think it's, it'sgoing to be a long-term , um,
(05:17):
investment on the federalgovernment side and really kind
of assessing what that supportlooks like. Um, I don't think
it's handing out, you know,millions and millions of
dollars without some sort ofkind of boundaries of here's
where we want this invested,here's where we want this to
go. Um, I think there needs tobe guidance around that , um,
(05:38):
so that we can make sure it's along term investment situation,
right?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah. And so that's a great primer on what's
happening federally, and you,you started touching on this,
what about at the state level?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, so at the state level, you know, every
state operates differently,right? Yeah . Mm-hmm
able to understand what theyneed to do with their funding
that they get from the federalgovernment. So every state does
something a little differently.
You have some that kind ofspread that leadership down to
the local level. Like inFlorida , um, in Texas, you've
(06:13):
got 30 different organizationsin the state that are
responsible for that funding,and then they handle how that
goes into their markets and totheir families and to their
providers. Um, and then youhave other states where they
handle it at the state level,right? Um, where it's one big
bucket and they decide, okay,here's where we're gonna put
this money, here's where we'regonna put this money, and
here's where we're gonna putthis money. So every state,
(06:35):
that's probably a little bit,it's, it's kind of a puzzle
where you don't necessarilyhave all the pieces because
every state's gonna do it alittle bit differently. Um, and
so I think it would just dependon, you know, the specific
state that we may be talkingabout, right? Um, every state ,
um, understands it's an issue.
(06:55):
Every state wants it to be apriority. Um, whether or not
they decide to offer taxcredits or , um, do C-C-D-B-G ,
which is the childcare Blockdevelopment grant, which
usually supports funding forfamilies that can't afford
childcare mm-hmm
(07:16):
they wanna put that money andhow is it going to help, you
know, their families and theirproviders. So, like I said,
every state's a little bitdifferent, and I think some
states have been focused onmixed delivery. What does mixed
delivery look like? I thinkmixed delivery is, you know,
elementary schools being ableto provide some sort of
childcare , um, UPK, privateschools, nonprofits , um,
(07:39):
for-profits , um, that all ofthose pieces are really needed
in order to really fit the needof the families that are in
that state. And so they, youknow, have to figure out what
does that look like and how dowe support it? Um , and I think
some states are actuallymoving, being very creative in
the space because theirunderstanding that their
economy in their state is veryreliant on the childcare
(08:03):
industry, right? Yep . It's ifthat, if those employees that
they wanna hire don't havechildcare, then hiring that
employee becomes difficult,right? Mm-hmm
And so all of a sudden, I thinkeven after Covid childcare has
been at the table of all thestate leaders in some form or
fashion , um, and so, you know,we're talking about childcare
(08:26):
deserts, right? So we've hadmany childcare providers close
as a result of not being ableto sustain their business. So
it's kind of created this , um,conundrum around, we don't have
enough childcare, but if wedid, are we still able to make
it affordable so that familieswill wanna work and go to work
and leave their child inchildcare , right? Mm-hmm
(08:47):
Some states, like I said, to goback to my first comment , I
think some states have actuallybeen creative around, okay, how
do we do a longstandingsustainability, you know , um,
support and some have, haveeven talked about doing a
payroll tax in their state thatis specifically dedicated to
(09:09):
the childcare arena.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Was that Vermont?
Was Vermont doing that? Am Iremembering that right? It was
Vermont . Okay .
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yeah . Yeah. So Vermont has created this , um,
you know, payroll tax forlong-term support in their
state , um, which is creative,and I don't know that we've
ever heard of such a thing,right? That's very dedicated
funding and very focused on oneof the issues that they feel is
part of their, you know, issuein their state to get employees
(09:34):
back to work.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Can you give a couple of other example ?
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Excuse me?
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Oh, yeah. Can you give a couple other examples of
what some, some of the creative,
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Um , things
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Happening? Yeah .
So,
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah. So Iowa is another one. Um, the Iowa
leadership, state of Iowaleadership have really
invested, I believe it wassomewhere to the tune of, I may
be wrong, but $8 million, Ibelieve, okay . Um , where they
went in and revamped theirentire funding , um, machine,
right? So the, all of their ,um, programs and their systems
(10:09):
were not linked together,right? Okay . So you had, you
know, you had the subsidyfunding system over here. You
had the , um, food programsystem over here. You had , um,
you know , uh, all the childrenfocused and family focused
systems were not connected. Sohe came in and he said, I want
(10:29):
all of those to be connected.
We need to have kind of onebrain system brain in the
middle that everything isconnected. So it comes through
so that those systems can talkso that we can, you know , when
we make legislation changes or, um, we wanna invest, then it
affects all parts of thesystem, not just one part over
(10:49):
here or one part over here,right? Mm-hmm
And so it's called the C3 , um,very creative. A lot of states
are looking to Iowa as, youknow, part of that , um, you
know, really creative approachto how we support the industry.
Um, you see some things comingout of Indiana, Montana, most
(11:10):
recently, Montana's trying tosupport , um, the childcare
industry. They do not have alot of coordinated childcare ,
you know, focus in Montana,haven't, and so recently they
have created this , um, systemto be able to do some business
coaching around, you know,childcare and what that looks
like and how they can impactthat business in their state.
(11:32):
Um, because as you know,Montana's very widespread.
Yeah. So , um, a lot of land
Speaker 2 (11:39):
A lot.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
It's still a lot of families and children to take
care of. So , um, you're justhearing those conversations
come out , um, at the statelevel. And those are
conversations I'm having withstate leaders to talk about,
you know, what we can do tosupport them in that, you know,
process and how do they moveforward. Um, some of the other
states, Arizona , um, anotherstate that has done some very
(12:03):
interesting , um, projectsaround , uh, connection, API
connections and getting themoney, the subsidy funding to
the provider quicker, right?
Mm-hmm
of that lag in time from thetime that a child attends. And
then if they're a subsidyfamily or a subsidy child
that's getting support from thestate, then how do we get that
(12:26):
money from the state back tothe provider for providing that
care? Because there is, therehas been historically this gap
of 30 to 45 days and just apaperwork processing, right? So
it's really a large discussionaround automation , um, and
what does that look like, andhow do we help states do that?
(12:46):
So that is coming out of a lot. Texas is another one that's
doing that. Um, so definitely alot of interesting
conversations and people reallyhaving , um, some out of the
box thinking when it came tothe industry. I don't think
it's a one size fits all . Ithink it's going to take many
ideas coming to the table andfiguring out what fits , um,
(13:09):
and how we're best going to,you know, preserve the
industry.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah. That's gonna be really interesting to see
mm-hmm
years and absolutely . Reallyshow they can work mm-hmm
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Mm-hmm . Absolutely.
For sure.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
And you recently returned from a trip to
Washington with a bunch ofother ECE leaders mm-hmm
you were doing there, and whatkind of response you got, who
you met with, everything youcan share? Yeah ,
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Yeah, absolutely.
So, quarterly we get together ,um, we sit on the board for the
ECEC , um, and we get togetherquarterly to discuss kind of
what's going on in theindustry, right? Mm-hmm
the heart of the nation, right?
In Washington dc And part ofthe reason we do that is
(13:58):
because we wanna be at a armslength of the leaders that are
making the decisions mm-hmm
our meetings, we actuallyschedule a hill day, which
means all of us in the roomthis year or this recent Q1 ,
um, meeting, we had about 60 to65 , um, people at the table.
And we actually had scheduled60 plus meetings with either
(14:23):
members or , uh, leaders in theSenate and the house. Um, and
basically what happens is, iswe go up on, you know , one day
outta the three day meeting, weare dedicated to going up to
the hill and going from meetingto meeting , talking to leaders
about what the industry needs,what's important to providers,
(14:44):
what's important to families,what's important to, you know,
some of the, you know, thesupply providers, right? Mm-hmm
the loudest voices in the room,and we have the, the lowest
voices in the room, right? Wehave people that are
representing family childcare,we have people that are
representing corporatechildcare. We have everybody in
the middle. Um, and so wereally have discussions with
(15:07):
those leaders around what itlooks like, what it feels like,
kind of the word on the street,and , um, what does the
industry need , um, and wheredo they go from here? It's not
something they probably thinkabout every day , but it's
something we think about everyday. And so we really try to
bring that to the forefront andhave those conversations with
(15:28):
those leaders and say, youknow, here's what the future
should look like. Here's whatwe need to make that happen.
Um, here's what our familiesare suffering with. Here's what
our providers are sufferingwith, and we need to figure out
how to bring that all togetherand really, you know, come to a
better place in the industry.
Yeah . Um , and we talk aboutbills that have been drawn up ,
(15:51):
um, by some of the committeemembers, and , um, what bills
we support, what bills weprovide, kind of color around
that. What does that mean,right? So, yeah . When , when a
leader looks at a bill or looksat a proposal and a committee
meeting, you know, it's okay,what does this mean for my
families of Georgia, ofFlorida, of Texas, of
(16:13):
California, of Indiana mm-hmm
there to represent all of thatto say, here's what's
happening. Here's what we know,and here's what we believe
could be best. Right? Um, andreally encouraging them and
kind of arming them with their, um, story or argument to
(16:33):
bring to the committee or tothe floor to say, yes, we need
to pass this bill. Yes, thisneeds to go, and here's why. So
we're providing them kind ofthat narrative around that and
hoping that it makes it far. So
Speaker 2 (16:46):
What kind of response did you get during
these meetings?
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Great response. I think . I don't think there's,
I don't think there's anyonethat we talk to that doesn't
have a child in their life,doesn't have a parent in their
life, doesn't have a teacher intheir life, right? Uhhuh ,
those nerves around, you know,this hits home for everybody.
There's nobody in this roomthat doesn't have exposure to
(17:13):
any one of those pieces. Um,and, you know, the response is
, wow, I'd never really thoughtabout it that way. Or if they
are a leader of the discussion,right? 'cause they do have
education committee membersthat we spoke to, they are very
in tune with it. And they'relike, okay, tell me more about
this, because I, I really wantto understand that. I really
(17:34):
wanna bring that to the floor.
I really wanna make sure thatI'm really in tune with what's
happening today mm-hmm
happen tomorrow. So tell memore about X, Y , ZPDQ , right?
Mm-hmm
gamut. You have those that havenot maybe be , maybe they've
been focused on other, youknow, topics or discussions,
(17:55):
and childcare's been there, butnot like at the top. Um, those
are saying, wow, I, I neverreally thought about that.
Others are like, I absolutelyhave thought about this. I live
this every day, and I wannaknow more, and I wanna hear
about it. So I think we heard,generally everyone cares about
it. I don't think there's not,there's one person up there
(18:15):
that says, oh, it's notimportant. That absolutely is
not the case. Um, everybodybelieves it's important.
Everybody wants to findanswers. It's just a matter of
finding out what the rightanswer is , um, and what , what
the right mix is. So , um, itwas good news. It was very
energetic. I think , um, youknow, going in there kind of
(18:37):
reignites the passion that I'vehad for this industry for 31
years. And so every, I neverimagined, you know, back in
1994 or 2000 that I would everbe walking the streets of DC
and walking into arepresentative's office and
saying, here's why this isimportant, and here's why we
need to do this. Um, I neverimagined myself in that space,
(18:57):
but , um, I think if you'rethat passionate about
something, then you takeaction, right? Yeah. Um , and
that's, you know, part of thereason why I joined ProCare. I
wanted to have impact. I wantedto have a different level of
impact mm-hmm
Um , and so it , it's veryenergizing to go up there and
represent, you know, all thepeople that we do , um, the
(19:20):
providers, the families, theteachers, the business owners,
the states for that mattermm-hmm
Speaker 2 (19:27):
And to be around all the other people in the
industry too. I mean, oh ,yeah. That have the same, the
same passion as you do.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
And we definitely, you know,this time we did have a, a
reception , um, at the Hillmm-hmm
first five years fund , um,sponsored it. And we had some
leaders come in, somerepresentatives come in and
talk to the group, and it waseveryone from across the
industry, not just the ECECgroup, it was people from all
(19:57):
over, right? Mm-hmm
nonprofits, all the , um, stateleadership, all , um, you know,
we had some shared servicesrepresentatives in there. We
had , um, any aspect thattouches childcare , we, they
were in there. I enjoyed , youknow, multiple conversations
with providers that came thatreally want their voice heard,
(20:18):
right? Mm-hmm
So one provider out of Montanahas , um, actually expanded her
business, and she's a familyprovider, and she had her
house. She decided, you know,there wasn't childcare when she
had her children, and so shedecided to open her home up for
childcare. Mm-hmm
(20:38):
later, has purchased threehomes around her in addition to
her home. And she actually has,in essence, five childcare
centers right there in, in her,you know, on the land that she
owns. Um , wow. Which wasinteresting. Yeah. I mean, you
look at , you look at somebodywho's, you know, you talk about
(20:58):
being creative, right? And shewas telling us all about kind
of what each home, what agegroup is in each home, and how
she manages it, and whatsupport she needs in order to
do that. And, you know, we justreally encouraged her. We were,
we were very fortunate to comeacross her path, and , um, we
encouraged her and thanked herfor being creative and being ,
(21:20):
um, brave and stepping outthere to help her, you know,
her neighborhood and her mm-hmm
are around her. And she offershigh quality childcare to the
families of Montana. And, youknow, we definitely encouraged
her, and she's getting ready toopen a center , um, like a one
site center. And so she's gonnabe pulling those in there and
then providing her homes as ,um, rental opportunities for
(21:44):
her teachers, right? Because itis in the industry, the
teachers don't make what theyabsolutely deserve to make,
right. Because we have this,you know, what parents can
afford and what we, you know,need to run the business. And
she felt like it was importantfor her to take kind of that
next step and say, if any of myteachers need, you know, a
(22:05):
place to rent or whatever, thenthat's an opportunity that she
could take those homes aftershe moves into her center and
actually rent those out toteachers so that they can
continue to stay with her. Andthat's how she keeps, you know,
that's kind of her employeelongevity plan, right? Yeah .
Investing in her employees . Sovery creative, very, it's
(22:26):
amazing what you come across inthis industry , um, with people
and what they're willing to doand put on the line in order to
help families and , um, helpchildren.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah. I think that commitment is something you
don't see in a lot of otherindustries. No , for sure. For
sure. No ,
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Very , very interesting.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
And you, you touched a little bit on shared
services, and I wondered if youwould mind talking maybe just a
little bit about that. I thinkthat's something a lot of
people really aren't aware of .
Sure . And yeah, if you couldjust kind of give a quick
overview of what it is, whatyou're seeing, I think that
might really help theconversation too.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Absolutely. So shared services , um, has
really kind of surfaced overthe last, I would say probably
the last 10 years. We'veprobably seen a , a huge uptick
in this. Um , because theindustry is so strapped when it
comes to , um, uh, being ableto really afford kind of all
(23:21):
the services that you need torun a business, right? Mm-hmm
the things, right? Your financedepartment, all those things.
And, and for a highly regulatedbusiness that that's risky,
right? It's like, okay,understanding one person that
owns it. I am the marketing, Iam the hr, I am the CFO, I am
(23:42):
the CEO . Um, so what hashappened is these states,
again, another creative way,right? States and nonprofit
organizations have cometogether and said, how do we
support that? How do we helpthese business owners that are
kind of the one, one and all,they're everything to their
business mm-hmm
Um, and so they've createdthese opportunities and funding
(24:05):
opportunities for sharedservices to actually do
business coaching and providesome of that kind of back
office administrative support,right? Everything from, like I
said, HR to , um, automation to, uh, teacher training to
quality, you know, how toimprove quality in your
(24:26):
business, all the things thatgo into making a business very
successful, at least in thechildcare industry. Yeah . Um ,
and so these shared serviceshave come up and have really
kind of gathered the resourcesfor their local , um, groups to
be able to support the industryand somehow give them that
boost they need in order tosustain their business. Um, and
(24:48):
so you'll see that across, youknow, you see states creating
those shared services in thespace of , um, the funding,
like the, you know, Florida andthe Texas. Um, and then you
also have nonprofits coming upof people that really kind of
wanna have that next level ,um, touch on the industry. And
so they're going out andseeking grants and , um,
(25:10):
getting foundations to come inand support to actually open up
kind of a nonprofit , um,childcare shared service going
in and helping boost all thoselevers, right? Mm-hmm
it's very hard for one owner tobe able to boost all those
levers at the same time , um,without some sort of support or
some sort of help outside thecenter or outside the home. Um,
(25:33):
so yeah, that shared servicespace is becoming a very hot
topic. Yeah. Um , I think we'regoing to see that increase ,
um, astronomically over thenext couple of years, because I
think that that's going to bethat thoroughfare of, okay, if
this then this, right? So it's,we can do funding, however we
(25:53):
need to offer some businesscoaching around how, what does
that funding do and where do weput it, and how do we get the
most bang for our buck, right?
Mm-hmm
Quality has become a big topicas well , um, because obviously
childcare is childcare, whichis a benefit to parents, but at
the same time, you're educatingthe leaders of tomorrow. Yeah.
(26:15):
Right? So that's a heavy lift.
I mean, and so we wanna makesure that anybody who is
opening a childcare center isthinking has quality at front
of mind, right? Quality inemployees, quality in in
environments, quality ineducation , um, curriculum, all
the things , um, that make thatbusiness successful. Um, so
(26:37):
yeah, I think shared servicesis gonna be a hot topic for a
long time , um, from here onout. Um, and we'll continue to
see that , uh, group grow, Ithink, not only on the state
level, but then on a locallevel as well , um, and on the
foundation level.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Yeah. Yeah. So based on what you've seen in your
work, the people you've spokenwith, what, what you heard in
DC mm-hmm
or other issues that ECEleaders need to be keeping
track of? And I'm sure there'sa long, long, long list. Oh ,
there is . Yeah .
Speaker 3 (27:11):
There is , um, probably the two hottest
topics, which are the topicsthat we talked about when we
were there. Um, uhhuh
couple of weeks ago , um, wasthe , uh, C-D-C-D-C-T-C
Yeah. Um, and basically whatthat is, is the , um, child
(27:32):
dependent care tax credit. SoC-D-C-T-C , um, you'll hear
about it, you'll hear manyleaders talking about it. Um,
basically what that is, isthere's an allowance that
allows parents to write off ,um, childcare expenses, right?
Mm-hmm
touched in over 20 years. Andso much of our conversations
(27:55):
when we were in DC was aroundthis tax credit and
understanding this is a waythat we can help families
because it , it's kind of a,it's an opportunity to give
some of their money back aroundthe investments that they make
all year long, right? Mm-hmm
children and their children'seducation. So , um, basically
what we did was we asked thebill had , the bill has been
(28:18):
written , um, and we went inoffering support around that to
actually double that forfamilies , um, up to $6,000 and
$12,000 for two plus childrenfamilies. Um, so basically
giving them that tax credit atthe end of the year when they
file their taxes, they're ableto write those , um, expenses
off. Um, we believe that thatwould be a huge opportunity for
(28:41):
parents , um, to give them someof their money back and , and
some of their tax obligation ,um, and at the same time give
them some relief, right? Yeah.
Um, so that's probably one ofthe, the larger , um, pieces of
discussion on the hill rightnow is the C-D-C-T-C
Okay ? Okay . Child dependentcare, tech credit . Okay . The
(29:02):
second one is , um, section 45F , um, section 45 F is on the
employer side of , um, of thechildcare businesses. Um, so
basically it's offering a , um,tax credit to employers that
provide some sort of childcarebenefit, right? Oh, okay. So
whether it's constructing,renovating and onsite , um, we
(29:25):
know not everybody's gonna beable to do that. Um, but also
offsetting operating costs fora childcare center , um, or
even contracting with achildcare provider near maybe
an office space , um, thatgives that employer the
opportunity to actually get atax credit for doing that. Um,
so it's twofold, right? Mm-hmm
(29:46):
that employer the opportunityto have some tax benefit, but
then it's also kind of forcingthe hand to offer some sort of
employer benefit , um, whichthen helps the employee, which
helps the children, which helpsthe providers, right? Because
everybody Yeah. Everybodybenefits from that. Yeah . So ,
um, the section 45 F wasanother one that we had large
(30:09):
discussions about on the hill ,um, that we're hoping we can,
you know, get some tractionunder , um, just to kind of
help all, all the pieces thatare moving, right? Um, that's
the part that we wanted tobring up and really have some
discussion about. So we kind ,we kind of assess , we, we
addressed like the two largestpieces of the childcare
(30:31):
business, right? The familyuhhuh and the business. Um, and
that's kind of the goal. Idon't think anybody believes
that helping one or the otheris gonna fix the problem. It's,
we need both sides, right? Yeah. We've gotta somehow give
families relief and we've gottasomehow give providers relief
at the same time,
Speaker 2 (30:48):
For sure. So what did I not ask you that I should
have or do ? Oh , goodness.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
I don't know . Um,
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Uh , or do you want listeners to take away from
this podcast? It's such, it'ssuch a big topic, such a , yeah
. Important topic. And it feelslike so much is always changing
with it too. It
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Is. It absolutely is. You know, I, I think we're
all guilty of thinking, well,you know, my voice doesn't
matter. Um, I think that's theone thing that I would want
everybody to take away fromthis, is every voice matters in
this situation. Um, from theteacher to the, you know, the
site leader, to a director, toan owner , um mm-hmm
(31:28):
all the voices matter. Um, andif there's one thing that I
would want anybody to take awayfrom this is, you know, get
involved, get active with theleadership of your state , um,
the leadership of your county,childcare is at every level
right now. And so we need alarge voice out there to say,
(31:51):
we've got to somehow cometogether and figure out how to
fix it, how to help, how tosupport it , um, how to make it
better , um, how to make itaffordable. Um , yeah . And
like I said, I don't thinkthere's any human that doesn't
have any piece of that or hashasn't heard any piece of that
from someone, whether it betheir family or friends or
neighbors or, you know,community members. Um, so I
(32:14):
think that's the one thing is Iencourage you, your voice
matters. And when you starthearing kind of some rumblings
around that in your localcommunity or even, you know,
maybe the associations you'rein , um, definitely get
involved. Make sure that you'rea part of those conversations.
Make sure that you're going torepresent your families and
your children , um, becausethat's what's going to help
(32:37):
make this better, right? Yeah .
That's what, that's how we aregoing to know that we're moving
in the right direction, is ifwe can get everybody's voice
heard. Um, so yeah, I, I thinkthat's, that's my ask is get
involved , um, and make sureyou're there answering the
surveys. If a survey comesacross your screen, make sure
(32:58):
you answer it, make sure youknow it , it , ask your
families to answer it. Um ,mm-hmm
I think those are the things,you know, we're going to be
looking for a lot of data.
Everybody's gonna be lookingfor data to really understand
the scope and the landscape ,um, of what needs to happen
next. So,
Speaker 2 (33:17):
And we're still doing the, is it the quarterly
calls with ECEC on champions ofmixed delivery? Can you, can
you talk a little bit aboutwhat happens on those, those
calls, the information that'sshared?
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Yeah. So, you know, really talking about mixed
delivery, because again, itgoes back to not any one piece
is gonna be the answer. I thinkit's mm-hmm
It's going to take everybody.
Um, and you know, those change,right? Elementary schools,
their population changes yearafter year. So there's space
changes year after year. So Idon't think there's any one
(33:50):
answer. I think if we can makesure that we continue to
support that mixed delivery,then we can have everybody kind
of coexist and we're able tomeet the needs of families.
Yeah , that's the importantpart that's at the , that's at
the cornerstone of that entireconversation, is we can't,
we're already at a situa acritical situation where we
(34:10):
don't have enough, and unlesswe're able to have that mixed
delivery, are we going to beable to meet that mm-hmm
that available to everybody,right? So we have Head Start ,
we have C-C-B-B-G , we have,you know , um, nonprofit
centers, we have familychildcare centers, we have
elementary schools, we haveprivate schools, we have all
(34:32):
the things, and there arefamilies, and families need
choice. I I think that there'san opportunity for a family to
really assess what environmentthey want their child in, and
they need to have the abilityto make that. Um, and so that's
also at the cornerstone of thatmixed delivery conversation, is
making sure that families havechoice and making sure that ,
(34:54):
um, there's opportunities andthere's choice for them to have
, um, in what space they wantto go into.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
And I'll share a link to that call in the , um,
show notes of this podcast too,so you can keep track of it.
And we do po we post reminderson , um, the ProCare Facebook
and Instagram pages and that tokind of , to help with as well.
Is there any other website orresources that you'd recommend
to follow along to see what's,what's going on? Um , the CC ,
(35:24):
um,
Speaker 3 (35:25):
Yeah, I don't, we generally try to really , um,
put out this informationbecause we are at the front
lines of it. So yeah , wegenerally share that
information across allplatforms, right? Uhhuh ,
childcare aware , your , um,state organizations , um,
(35:46):
shared service groups , um, weshare that information across
the board. So really, ifthere's any , um, website or
any organization that you'refollowing, generally speaking,
you're gonna find , you'regonna have , this information's
gonna seep down to that level.
Um, usually it takes about twoweeks, two to three weeks that
(36:07):
you'll start seeing kind ofthis information come across
very many channels, right? Yeah. Because again, we're trying
to really make sure that thatgrassroots gets out , um, and
everybody, you know, isspeaking the same language and,
and becoming one voice , um,and representing many voices.
So , uh, I think anyorganization that you're a part
(36:28):
of in this industry, you'll seeit.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Okay. And we'll also share in the , um, the show
notes , um, here at ProCareSolutions, we made a part of
our website that breaks downstate by state resources as
well. So hopefully that'sabsolutely helpful as well.
Absolutely. Yeah. Well ,Michelle, thank you so much for
joining us today. This was alot of really good information
that you packed into a shorttime, so we Sure . We
(36:53):
appreciate it. And thank youfor the work you're doing to
advocate for everyone, andwe'll ,
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Absolutely. Leah , I enjoy being here, and thank you
for having me.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Yes. And thanks again, everybody. Keep, stay
tuned. Subscribe to theChildcare Business Podcast.
We've got a lot more greatstuff coming up. Uh, thanks for
all the work you do to , um,educate our young learners and
to be such a vital part of oureconomy. Have a great day,
everyone. We'll see you nexttime. Bye.
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