In solidarity with the CEC Project 20/20: Creating a Vision of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in all of CEC and the DEC Message about Racism and Inequity, Michigan DEC stands with its members and community.
As an organization, we acknowledge systemic racism exists. In the past several weeks, new violence against Black people has been recorded and shared widely, exposing long-held injustices in our society. The recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and the countless others before them have confirmed the divide in our collective psyche regarding race. We also recognize that many of our members are processing what recent events mean for their work and the systems and institutions rooted in racism.
We stand with our members, those supporting children with disabilities and their families, as they work through the traumas of systemic racism. We also stand with our members--and others--who are speaking out to address these systemic injustices. We acknowledge we all have a role to play in dismantling institutional racism including in our early care and education system. This work is ongoing and essential, and we are committed to engaging in it with you. As an organization, we are recommitting to our role in dismantling institutional racism and supporting our members with doing the same in their spheres.
The MiDEC recognizes overcoming bias as a key priority for our work. As part of our strategic planning this year the MiDEC board will investigate ways to integrate overcoming bias into our priority agenda. We as a board believe that we all have a role and responsibility to become consciously aware, change behavior, and ultimately eliminate the impact of these biases by supporting each other through - and holding each other accountable to - our unconscious actions.
MiDEC Board of Directors
The Michigan Division for Early Childhood (MiDEC) endorses the NAEYC statement on Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education. Additionally, MiDEC has five policy priorities:
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Funded strategy for recruitment and retention of early childhood, early intervention, and early childhood special education personnel
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Personnel preparation and standards of practice for all early childhood professionals that provide support to young children with exceptional needs and their families in Michigan, including a funded strategy to support the active engagement of personnel in professional learning to support culturally responsive practices through understanding bias and institutional racism.
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Increased investment in Early On® Michigan, which supports our infants and toddlers, birth to age 3, with delays and disabilities and their families.
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Sustain state-funded support for the evidence-based developmentally appropriate preschool for 3-year-old children, Strong Beginnings pilot.
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Universal preschool with a cohesive and coherent approach to support inclusion in all preschool settings.
Effects governmental changes at the local, state, provincial, and federal levels. CAN is a communication network that is comprised of individuals in each DEC Subdivision who develops and maintains a system for communicating and sharing information with DEC members in their respective states and provinces. To learn more, visit
https://www.decpolicy.org/policy-about
The Early On Michigan Foundation's website houses resources to support advocacy and information sharing about the importance of early intervention services. Go to http://earlyonfoundation.org and click on the Policy and Advocacy tab!
