Every child in Michigan deserves access to safe, nurturing, and inclusive child care. But right now, child care providers across our state are being asked to do the impossible: support young children with special needs, especially those with autism, without the training, resources, or funding they need.

Providers caring for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers often pay out of pocket for adaptive equipment, sensory tools, and specialized training. They are expected to manage children who require one-on-one attention while working with the same staff-to-child ratios as any other classroom. The result? Overwhelmed teachers, high turnover, and, most heartbreakingly, children as young as toddlers being expelled from child care programs at three times the rate of their peers in K–12 schools.

Parents of young children are left scrambling—called home from work to pick up a child mid-day, or placed on long waitlists for therapy centers that don’t provide full-time care. This crisis hurts everyone: families, providers, and most of all, children who just want a chance to thrive.

We call on Michigan’s Governor, Legislature, and Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to take urgent action by:

• Increasing state child care subsidy rates for children with special needs (ages 0–5) so providers can afford to hire support staff and specialists.
• Funding autism-specific training for child care providers, so they are equipped to meet the needs of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
• Expanding Early On and other early intervention programs so families don’t wait months—or years—for services.
• Creating policies that ensure children with autism and developmental disabilities are not unfairly expelled from child care programs.

Michigan’s child care system is already under strain. Without action, too many of our youngest children with autism and other special needs will continue to fall through the cracks. Investing in our providers means investing in our kids—and in our future.

Join us in demanding more support, resources, and funding for child care providers and Michigan’s youngest children.