Welcome! This is the official waitlist application for the Region 7 (Capital Area) Early Educator Wage Initiative, administered by Child Care Back Office on behalf of the Capital Area Child Care Coalition (CACCC) and in partnership with the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District (GOISD) and the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP). The CACCC is co-led by the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), United Way of South Central Michigan (UWSCM) and Capital Area Michigan Works! (CAMW!), and 70+ coalition members. The Early Educator Wage Initiative is designed to provide direct financial support to a pool of early childhood educators working in the Capital Area.
Please note: If you have already completed an application for this program, you DO NOT need to apply again to remain in the waitlist lottery pool.
Before you begin, please have the following information available:
- Your MiRegistry ID Number Participating early childhood educators must update and/or create a MiRegistry profile, including all wage and employment documentation, and keep it current throughout the duration of the wage initiative. MiRegistry profiles are verified as a part of the application process, and applicants found to have incomplete or out of date profiles will not be eligible to recieve a stipend. For information on what is considered a complete and up to date profile, please refer to the Wage Initiative Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on CCBO's website at: www.childcarebackoffice.org/wage-initiative/#faqs
- Your employer's contact information and Michigan Child Care License number OR your Michigan Child Care License number (for owner/operators)
This application should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. All information you provide will be kept confidential and used solely for the purposes of determining stipend eligibility and lottery selection. Please ensure your responses are accurate, as they will be verified and may affect eligibility.
If you need help completing this application, creating or updating your MiRegistry account, or identifying your Michigan Child Care License number please contact Shelby Sandborn at the Central Resource Center. She can be reached via email at ssandborn@midlandesa.org, or via phone/text at 989-698-6003. You can also reach out to the Child Care Back Office team about this application and the Wage Initiative by emailing wages@childcarebackoffice.org.
PLEASE NOTE: Completion of an application does not guaruntee future receipt of stipends. Stipend recipients will be randomly selected via lottery from the applicant pool as needed to fill vacant program slots. The following priorities will be applied to all lottery runs:
- Priority 1: Below $13.00/hour
- Priority 2: $13.00–$14.99/hour
- Priority 3: $15-17.00/hour
Additional lottery weighting will be applied to educators working non-traditional hours (evenings, weekends, overnight) and those providing home-based child care, reflecting acute shortages in these settings.
Additional information about timeline and next steps are available on the Child Care Back Office website at http://www.childcarebackoffice.org/wage-initiative/#7.
These materials were developed under a grant awarded by the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential using state funding.