Speaking for Kids, the podcast from Michigan’s Children

In the December episode of Speaking for Kids, the Podcast , Michigan’s Children’s host Matt Gillard welcomes Gongwer News Service Managing Editor Alethia Kasben to talk about the accomplishments and shortcomings of the Michigan Legislature’s 2023 legislative year. Among big investments for kids and families were greater family tax relief through the expanded earned income tax credit, the adoption...

Michigan’s Children President & CEO Matt Gillard welcomes state Rep. Jasper Martus to the Speaking for Kids podcast to discuss efforts to advance making paid family medical leave mandatory in Michigan. The Genesee County Democrat is a point person in the House on the issue and has introduced a measure calling for an actuarial cost study to keep the issue moving forward into the new Legislative...

As Advocates from the Michigan Kinship Care Coalition (MKCC) gathering for aLegislative Day in Lansing to address state lawmakers, host Matt Gillard talks totwo guests about the changes needed to assist more kinship parents in raisingchildren outside the formal foster care system. Joining him this month areStephanie Armendariz, senior policy analyst, Chapin Hall at the University ofChicago, and au...

Speaking for Kids podcast host Matt Gillard from Michigan’s Children talks with three top state advocates about the sizeable funding wins in the new FY24 state budget for afterschool programming, services for homeless and runaway youths, and adult education and literacy help. Listen in as Matt welcomes Patrick Brown, Executive Director of the Michigan Adult, Community and Alternative Education Ass...

Speaking for Kids podcast host Matt Gillard talks inside politics around the FY24 State Budget with two veteran Lansing lobbyists. As state budget negotiations begin winding down to a conclusion next month, Matt welcomes two Capitol insiders experienced in the fight for children’s issues to discuss what the new fiscal year’s budget holds for kids and families. What do the latest state revenue esti...

Speaking for Kids host Matt Gillard speaks with Sen. Rosemary Bayer about bills in the Michigan Legislature that she and other Democrats have sponsored to reform gun laws as the state deals with the aftermath of the mass shooting on campus at Michigan State University in February. They are joined by MSU Senior Dylan Gebhard, active in the Sit Down MSU and Students Demand Action movement in this po...

Michigan’s Children’s Speaking for Kids Host Matt Gillard explores Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s “universal PreK plan” to expand access and eligibility to the state’s Great Start Readiness Program to all interested families of 4-year-olds. Presented in the Governor’s recent State of the State address, it’s a bold plan that has raised interest and some concern among early childhood providers and advo...

Gun-related violence became the leading cause of child mortality in the United States – exceeding car accidents – just two years ago in 2020. Speaking for Kids podcast host Matt Gillard from Michigan’s Children welcomes gun reform activists Imani McKissic and Christopher Smith to the podcast to discuss Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s recent call for legislative action addressing gun violence...

Michigan’s Children’s Host Matt Gillard is joined on the Speaking for Kids podcast by three special guests to discuss glaring problems that came to light in the Wayne County youth detention system this fall. In a series of investigative reports by the Detroit Free Press, issues surfaced in the ways youths were detained before moving to their treatment plans - often for prolonged periods of time an...

Speaking for Kids Host Matt Gillard from Michigan’s Children explores an important family issue that’s thankfully gaining greater attention at the Capitol lately. With 54,000 children living in kinship care families in Michigan, Matt discusses the issue of formal and informal kinship care arrangements with two top advocates, David Berns and Erin Peets. Both serve as members of the Michigan Kinship...

Welcome two members of the Michigan Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform to the Speaking for Kids Podcast to discuss a series of 32 recommended reforms that hold the promise of transforming the state’s court system for youth. Jason Smith, executive director of the Michigan Center for Youth Justice , and John Casteel, a former youth involved in the juvenile system , said they were optimistic that...

Michigan’s Children’s Speaking for Kids Podcast with Matt Gillard returns with senior economist Tim Bartik, of the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, to address the acute and long-term crisis in child care, its impact on labor markets in Michigan, and what state policymakers should do with billions of dollars in one-time revenue windfalls. Tax cuts or spending on investments with long-term...

“I look at data for a living, but rarely do I ever do statistical analysis and look at the data and want to cry over it,” Yale University’s eminent child psychiatrist Dr. Walter Gilliam told Michigan’s Children’s Matt Gillard on the latest episode of Speaking for Kids . Addressing recent findings that underscore the incredible level of stress that early childhood caregivers are living with – 56% w...

Michigan's Children President & CEO Matt Gillard sat down with former State Treasurer Nick Khouri to discuss the most recent state tax proposals under debate in Lansing, and the potential impact on state revenues and future investments in programs serving children, youth and families . Tune in to hear them breakdown the EITC, Pension Tax, and a possible General Income Tax Cut, and what advocat...

What are kinship families and why are they gaining greater attention in Michigan, most recently among recommendations of a House Task Force on Adoption and Foster Care? Speaking for Kids Podcast Host Matt Gillard , president & CEO of Michigan’s Children, explores the issue with two guests, attorney Shannon Urbon , executive director of The New Foster Care, and Ryleigh Frisbie , a self-describe...

Senator Debbie Stabenow joins Matt Gillard from Michigan's Children for a special edition of Speaking for Kids to discuss the Senate prospects for the Build Back Better act. The senior senator from Michigan offers her take on passing the bill by Christmas, with provisions for cutting taxes for families through expanding the child tax credit, university pre-K, child care funding, and reducing the c...

This month’s Speaking for Kids podcast from Michigan's Children features an important conversation about Michigan’s foster care system and how new recommendations from a bipartisan task force could raise needed reforms. “Re-imaging Child Welfare: A Discussion on the latest House Task Force Report on Foster Care” brings together three guests with insider knowledge on Michigan’s foster care system....

Michigan voters say we must invest in children. In the newest episode of Michigan’s Children Speaking for Kids , host Matt Gillard leads an important conversation on the results of a new statewide public opinion poll that finds Michigan voters strongly support greater investments in the state’s 2 million children, even if it means raising taxes. Matt and guests break down what 800 likely 2022 Gene...

Speaking for Kids , the podcast explores the statewide drive to urge more Michiganders of all ages to achieve a postsecondary degree or credential from a community college, 4-year university, technical, or internship program. With more than 70% of today’s jobs requiring a degree or credential, host Matt Gillard discusses Michigan’s goal to see 60% of the population attain a career-enhancing degree...

Speaking for Kids, the podcast explores the critical need for expanded afterschool and out-of-school time programs for Michigan students as a “continuum of care” for school-age youth. Demand for expanded programming is clearly high, but how’s the state’s supply of afterschool opportunities that meet family needs? Host Matt Gillard of Michigan’s Children explores the issue of community-based progra...

In the newest episode of Speaking for Kids State Reps. Ranjeev Puri and Greg VanWoerkom, members of the Governor’s Task Force on Child Care, and parents of school-age children of their own sit down with Host Matt Gillard to discuss the Legislature’s plan to take up the Governor’s $1.4 Billion proposals to address the state’s child care system and the eight-bill package of reforms working through t...

With $1.4 Billion in new federal relief dollars targeted for Michigan, state lawmakers and the Whitmer Administration have an unprecedented opportunity to make some real change in the state's struggling child care system, which is inaccessible for many working families and untenable as a business model for many child care providers. A successful state economy needs a strong child care system for i...

encouraging champions like you to get involved in the issues we’re fighting for