Exchange for Change: What Happens when Police & Youth Come Together to Try to Bridge the Gap
June 17, 2024
Speaking for Kids host Matt Gillard, president and CEO of Michigan’s Children, welcomes participants from Peckham – Flint’s recent “Exchange for Change” program, the multi-week roundtable between law enforcement officers and court-involved youths. Over four weeks, seven officers from the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department and Flint Police sat down with seven youths enrolled in Peckham’s Youth Services Program with the goal to find ways to “bridge the gap” between the community and police. They explored difficult topics including trauma, implicit bias, policing practices, and individual rights, and discovered a shared desire to improve their home community. In this podcast, Matt talks with the guests about the impact the Flint Water Crisis had on youth behavior and the distrust of authority that emerge from that environmental disaster. The Flint cohort is the third in a series of dialogues that started with meetings between local law enforcement and youth enrolled in Peckham’s Lansing program since the program launched in November 2021. A fourth session is planned in the fall. The program is a collaboration between Peckham and Michigan’s Children. Listen to it today.
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Why this School Chief Embraces Community-Based Providers in Pre-K for All
May 28, 2024
Michigan’s Children Speaking for Kids podcast host Matt Gillard welcomes Schools Superintendent John M. Searles, head of the Midland County Educational Service Agency, to discuss expansion of Pre-K for All. In a wide-ranging conversation, they discuss the expansion in light of a contentious House budget plan that would negatively impact funding to community-based child care providers in favor of those operated by intermediate school districts. Listen into this timely conversation around developing state budget plans for universal Pre-K.
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The New Movement for Equity in School Funding
April 3, 2024
Michigan’s Children’s Matt Gillard talks with Jeff Cobb, Director of Government Affairs at Education Trust-Midwest, about the pressing need for equity in education funding. Gillard and Cobb advocate for increased investment in education, stressing the long-term benefits and cost savings associated with improving educational outcomes. They draw parallels between Michigan and Massachusetts’ academic success, emphasizing the need for strategic investments to narrow the gap. Despite recent progress, they call for continued efforts to fully fund the Opportunity Index and double funding for English learners, setting Michigan on a path toward greater opportunity and prosperity for all.
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Making ‘PreK for All’ Work for All
February 29, 2024
Michigan’s Children’s Matt Gillard sits down with Jeff Capizzano, President of the Policy Equity Group, to talk frankly about Governor Whitmer’s “PreK for All” plan now that expanding free 4-year-old preschool is moving closer to becoming a reality with major state funding outlined in Whitmer’s proposed FY2025 budget recommendations. They discuss the plan’s “roadmap” for quickly expanding the state-funded preschool program at no cost to families, regardless of household income, while guarding against negatively impacting enrollment counts of private-pay, community-based child care providers.
Capizzano, whose Washington, D.C. firm was hired by the Governor’s office to work on an implementation plan, said the final recommendations represent a comprehensive strategy to better compensate early childhood educators, support the varied needs of families, and maintain viable child care businesses. He warned against “cherry picking” certain recommendations over others.
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Debriefing the Governor’s State of the State Address
January 25, 2024
To debrief Governor Whitmer’s 2024 State of the State address, Michigan’s Children’s Speaking for Kids Podcast Host Matt Gillard welcomes back two veteran Lansing lobbyist who have spent their careers working on children’s issues in Michigan. Specifically, they look at what she plans to champion on behalf of kids & families in the second year of her second term in office. Listen in and learn how you can raise your voices for the issues you care about. Returning guests are Andrea M. Cascarilla, Government Policy Advisor, Dykema; and Matt Kurta, Partner, Karoub Associates.
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