We would like to introduce ourselves. We are a grass roots advocacy organization founded by licensed child care providers the Lansing and mid-Michigan area. Our goal is to bring the issues of children, their families and childcare providers to the attention of state and local govenment, legislative representatives and the public. Our focus is to become partners with all agencies and organizations who can help bring about positive change in the field of early childhood education and to be a voice for the young children of Michigan.

In our effort to meet these goals:

• We want to network and connect Michigan's child care providers.
• We want to use this valuable network to share ideas and solutions with eachother and with government agenices.
• We want Michigan's child care providers to become partners with DHS in matters that affect the licensing of quality care and the reimbursement for quality care to low income families.

Since organizing in October 2005, we have met with many individuals who represent agencies that are concerned with Michigan's children and early education.

• Michigan 4-C
• Ingham County's Office for Young Children,
• Representative Michael Murphy
• James Sinnamon, Director of Day Care Licensing,
• Ron Hicks, Director of Office of Legislative and Liaison Services
• James Gale, Director of Office Of Children and Adult Licensing
• Patrice Eller, Deputy Director of Adult and Family Services
• Susan Hull, Director of Ingham County DHS
• Jim Nye, Karen Golejewski, Caprice Daniel, Melody Sievert, Maureen Sorbet and Wendy Griffen all of DHS

Our goals in these meetings have been to present our conerns with the proposed child care licensing rule changes and DHS child care reimbrusment.

We met many providers at the MAEYC conference in Grand Rapids on April 14-16 2005. From those contacts we have been emailing and sharing the latest changes in licensing and DHS reimbrusment.