Infant Toddler Quality Improvement pilot program shows wage increases work

by Leah Proctor-Ford, Outlier Media
February 9, 2026

This story was written by Randiah Camille Green and created in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Kresge Foundation. It is part of a year-long series focusing on the Hope Starts Here initiative in Detroit.

In 2024, child care provider Monique Snyder received a grant that alleviated some of the stress of her 16-year career.

With the roughly $185,000 grant, Snyder was able to hire three new staff members at the Detroit location of her Brainiacs Clubhouse Child Development Center, and increase wages of several existing educators from $14 up to $25 an hour. These teachers were finally able to receive holiday pay and paid time off. Some employees were also able to complete their Child Development Associate certification, allowing them to provide better quality, education-based care to the children.

The grant was through the Infant/Toddler Quality Improvement pilot program, funded by one-time federal dollars and administered through the Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC), a Michigan nonprofit, and the Taskforce for Early Care and Education Workforce Compensation which ECIC co-chairs. The pilot program sought to increase child care provider wages in Michigan, to help recruit and retain high-quality staff. Sixty one child care providers in Wayne County participated in the nine-month program, which reached 1,164 children.

“We were able to focus on the children 100%,” Snyder said. Additionally, the funding allowed her to hire cleaners and a full-time cook, jobs Snyder often had to do herself.

According to ECIC, many child care centers serving infants cannot afford to pay their staff livable wages because state child care subsidy reimbursements do not cover the true cost of providing care, and parents cannot afford to pay higher rates. ECIC reported that on average, infant and toddler care teachers make around $14.58 an hour.

Of the 1,700 child care programs that applied for ITQI grants, 62% reported having a waitlist, leaving the families of roughly 9,000 infants and 10,300 toddlers in Michigan seeking care.

“There is a not-so-funny ongoing joke that says, as soon as you find out you are expecting, you might want to get on a couple of waitlists because it’s extremely difficult to be able to find care for infants and toddlers,” said ECIC CEO Alicia Guevara. “It’s extremely expensive for providers to provide a high level of care, and when we’re not providing sufficient public investment, it makes it even more difficult.”

In developing the pilot, ECIC also recognized that the average cost of full-time infant care in Michigan was roughly $924 per month in 2024, which was 41.8% of the single parent median income in the state, per World Population Review. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines “affordable child care” as costing no more than 7% of a family’s household income.

ECIC is working to address these issues as part of the citywide Hope Starts Here initiative, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Kresge Foundation. The initiative has six imperatives, or goals, to improve and provide quality early childhood education, health, and access to care.

“It’s really expensive to provide infant/toddler care or to pay for child care for infants and toddlers because tuition is higher for serving babies compared to a preschool-aged kiddo,” said the vice president of strategic impact at ECIC, Mina Hong. “To be a licensed, compliant infant program, you have to have one teacher for every four babies, whereas, as you go higher up in age, one teacher can serve more children. That is a big cost driver in terms of making sure you’re in compliance with the ratio requirement, which is important to maintain high quality care.”

Providers who participated in the supplemented pay program reported being able to reduce their waitlist, having less turnover, increased financial security, and better work-life balance, due to wage supplements and insurance stipends, which allowed staff to focus more fully on their roles.

After the nine months ended, however, Brainiacs was unable to maintain the increased wages, so in lieu of cutting pay, the teachers’ hours were decreased. Teachers who were hired with ITQI funds ended up leaving for other jobs through the Detroit Public Schools Community District. Snyder said Brainiacs severely decreased its enrollment in order to maintain the higher income of its long-term teachers, retaining those who had received increased wages, at a loss to the company.

For Snyder, it felt like Christmas had come and gone.

“We’re trying to keep our noses above water and meet our counterparts like DPSCD, with the same standards,” she said. “But under our pay structure, those teachers are not going to get an $80,000 college degree and want to come work here making $36,000 a year.”

While the ITQI program did not receive funding for another year, ECIC and other partners on the taskforce are working with the state’s regional child care coalition to create local funding. They recommend that policymakers invest state funds to establish a fair compensation structure for the early childhood care workforce.

“Please continue this grant,” Snyder pleads. “Without it we lose the financial strength we need to be the high-quality facility that our community needs. Our children deserve an opportunity and with this grant we were given that and were successful. Through partnership and collaboration, we are successful.”

To learn more about Detroit families and the impact of Hope Starts Here, visit

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Infant Toddler Quality Improvement pilot program shows wage increases work Leah Proctor-Ford, Outlier Media February 9, 2026 This story was written by Randiah Camille Green and created in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Kresge Foundation. It is part of a year-long series focusing on the Hope Starts Here initiative in Detroit. In 2024, child care provider Monique Snyder received a grant that alleviated some of the stress of her 16-year career. With the roughly $185,000 grant, Snyder was able to hire three new staff members at the Detroit location of her Brainiacs Clubhouse Child Development Center, and increase wages of several existing educators from $14 up to $25 an hour. These teachers were finally able to receive holiday pay and paid time off. Some employees were also able to complete their Child Development Associate certification, allowing them to provide better quality, education-based care to the children. The grant was through the Infant/Toddler Quality Improvement pilot program, funded by one-time federal dollars and administered through the Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC), a Michigan nonprofit, and the Taskforce for Early Care and Education Workforce Compensation which ECIC co-chairs. The pilot program sought to increase child care provider wages in Michigan, to help recruit and retain high-quality staff. Sixty one child care providers in Wayne County participated in the nine-month program, which reached 1,164 children. “We were able to focus on the children 100%,” Snyder said. Additionally, the funding allowed her to hire cleaners and a full-time cook, jobs Snyder often had to do herself. According to ECIC, many child care centers serving infants cannot afford to pay their staff livable wages because state child care subsidy reimbursements do not cover the true cost of providing care, and parents cannot afford to pay higher rates. ECIC reported that on average, infant and toddler care teachers make around $14.58 an hour. Of the 1,700 child care programs that applied for ITQI grants, 62% reported having a waitlist, leaving the families of roughly 9,000 infants and 10,300 toddlers in Michigan seeking care. “There is a not-so-funny ongoing joke that says, as soon as you find out you are expecting, you might want to get on a couple of waitlists because it’s extremely difficult to be able to find care for infants and toddlers,” said ECIC CEO Alicia Guevara. “It’s extremely expensive for providers to provide a high level of care, and when we’re not providing sufficient public investment, it makes it even more difficult.” In developing the pilot, ECIC also recognized that the average cost of full-time infant care in Michigan was roughly $924 per month in 2024, which was 41.8% of the single parent median income in the state, per World Population Review. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines “affordable child care” as costing no more than 7% of a family’s household income. ECIC is working to address these issues as part of the citywide Hope Starts Here initiative, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Kresge Foundation. The initiative has six imperatives, or goals, to improve and provide quality early childhood education, health, and access to care. “It’s really expensive to provide infant/toddler care or to pay for child care for infants and toddlers because tuition is higher for serving babies compared to a preschool-aged kiddo,” said the vice president of strategic impact at ECIC, Mina Hong. “To be a licensed, compliant infant program, you have to have one teacher for every four babies, whereas, as you go higher up in age, one teacher can serve more children. That is a big cost driver in terms of making sure you’re in compliance with the ratio requirement, which is important to maintain high quality care.” Providers who participated in the supplemented pay program reported being able to reduce their waitlist, having less turnover, increased financial security, and better work-life balance, due to wage supplements and insurance stipends, which allowed staff to focus more fully on their roles. After the nine months ended, however, Brainiacs was unable to maintain the increased wages, so in lieu of cutting pay, the teachers’ hours were decreased. Teachers who were hired with ITQI funds ended up leaving for other jobs through the Detroit Public Schools Community District. Snyder said Brainiacs severely decreased its enrollment in order to maintain the higher income of its long-term teachers, retaining those who had received increased wages, at a loss to the company. For Snyder, it felt like Christmas had come and gone. “We’re trying to keep our noses above water and meet our counterparts like DPSCD, with the same standards,” she said. “But under our pay structure, those teachers are not going to get an $80,000 college degree and want to come work here making $36,000 a year.” While the ITQI program did not receive funding for another year, ECIC and other partners on the taskforce are working with the state’s regional child care coalition to create local funding. They recommend that policymakers invest state funds to establish a fair compensation structure for the early childhood care workforce. “Please continue this grant,” Snyder pleads. “Without it we lose the financial strength we need to be the high-quality facility that our community needs. Our children deserve an opportunity and with this grant we were given that and were successful. Through partnership and collaboration, we are successful.” To learn more about Detroit families and the impact of Hope Starts Here, visit This article first appeared on Outlier Media and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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