In partnership with the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP), the PPA team studies the role that license-exempt child care plays in Michigan’s mixed delivery system. The PPA team includes co-principal investigator Nathan Burroughs, PhD, from the American Institutes of Research (AIR).

License-exempt providers (LEPs) are related and unrelated individuals who fulfill certain health and safety standards and qualify to deliver care to children of families with subsidies participating in the state’s Child Development and Care Scholarship (CDC) Program. However, when this study began in 2024, little was known about the LEPs and how they may differ from licensed family child care providers (FCCs) participating in the the program.

This study examines LEPs’ characteristics, locations, motivations for providing child care, the services they provide, participation in quality improvement activities, and the supports they need. The research partnership is also learning about the role of LEPs in fulfilling families’ need for child care at non-traditional hours.

Follow these links to get the latest research results:

KEY TAKEAWAYS
POPULARITY OF LICENSE-EXEMPT CHILD CARE
CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN SERVED BY LEPs
TRAINING LEVELS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
NON-TRADITIONAL HOUR DEMAND STATE BY STATE

4 Key Takeaways

  1. LEPs care for more school-aged children than the other age groups combined.
  2. Interest in training is high among LEPs, and they prefer courses about provider-child interactions and child needs.
  3. About 1 in 5 Michigan families with young children need non-traditional hour care. The need is higher among families with low incomes, increasing to 1 in 3 families.
  4. LEPs are important contributors to Michigan’s early childhood system.

POPULARITY OF LICENSE-EXEMPT CHILD CARE

Although there were pandemic-related declines, the number of LEPs started to recover in 2023.

Between 2013 and 2015, the number of LEPs fell dramatically, from 8,753 to 4,131. No major policy changes affecting LEPs occurred during this period, so the reason for this drop is unknown. Since then, the number and relative share of LEPs stabilized before experiencing pandemic-related declines from 2020 to 2022. After the pandemic, LEP program participation remained lower than it was in 2019 but trended upward and the in 2023-2024 held at just under half of all providers (45%-46%) participating in the program.

During this same period, the number of center-based providers remained relatively stable, but the share of centers in the program more than doubled from 14% in 2013 to 29% in 2023. Around one-quarter of CDC providers are licensed home-based providers (including family homes and group homes), though their number fell by 40% between 2013 and 2023. This shift toward more center-based care follows a national trend.

Figure 1. License-Exempt Providers in the CDC Scholarship Program, 2013-2024

CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN SERVED BY LEPs

The majority of children served by LEPs are school-aged.

The background characteristics of children in LEPs were virtually identical in 2019 and 2023. The majority of children cared for by LEPs (62%) were school-aged children (=5 years or older). Infants and toddlers (birth to <2 ½ years) and preschoolers (=2 ½ to <5 years) each accounted for about 1 in 5 children with LEPs. In 2023, the licensed providers’ share of school-aged children was far lower – about 38% of children.

Figure 2.1 Ages of Children Cared for by LEPs, 2024

Figure 2.2 Ages of Children Cared for by FCCs, 2024

TRAINING LEVELS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Increasingly, LEPs are reaching the optional higher training tier, Level 2.

LEPs in Michigan receive a higher pay rate by completing Level 2 training, which requires 10 additional training hours annually. Level 1 requires basic health and safety training. Providers access professional development through the MiRegistry system.

While most providers stayed at Level 1, the share of LEPs that reached Level 2 jumped by 14 percentage points between 2019 and 2023. LEPs who went beyond the minimum training averaged about one class every three months. On average, they took just over six classes each, which translates to about 17 hours of training, exceeding even the Level 2 requirement.

Figure 3. Training Level of LEPs, 2019 and 2023

More children are being served by LEPs at the higher training tier.

In line with the increased share of providers reaching Level 2, the share of children cared for by LEPs at Level 2 is growing, reaching nearly half of all children in 2023 (Figure 10).

Figure 4. Training Level of Active LEPs, 2019 and 2023

LEPs taking additional training are most interested in child development.

LEPs spent more of their time on trainings related to child development and health, safety, and nutrition than other categories, with teaching and learning a close third.

LEPs completed nearly all of their classes online (92%).

Figure 5. Percentage of Training Hours Spent by Training Category

NON-TRADITIONAL HOUR DEMAND

Michigan families’ need for child care at non-traditional hours matches the national average.

Using American Community Survey data, the estimated demand for non-traditional hour care among families with young children nationally was 21% in 2024. However, using a later work day start of 8:00 a.m., that figure jumps to 42% for the country and 40% for Michigan.

Households with low incomes are more likely to need non-traditional hour care

Across the nation in 2024, nearly a third (32%) of all households with young children had parents working at least some non-standard hours, although need declined some over 10 years. The share of families with low incomes in Michigan who need NTH care is slightly higher than the national average (35%).

Figure 6. Non-Traditional Hour Care Need by Workday Times and Poverty Level

This map shows the demand for childcare at non-traditional hours across the country. Michigan’s demand matches the national average.

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Figure 7. Percentage of Families Needing some NTH care