Sometimes the work around ECIC can feel a bit like being a farmer - the goal is to keep sowing the seed in hopes that something good will grow.

Lately, the seed has been child care training, and I was gratified to see one sprout with Lansing's WILX (Channel 10)  featuring a story about the new training requirement for relative and aide child care providers in Michigan. (In case you didn't know, providers have to take a 6-hour health and safety course through one of ECIC's Great Start Regional Child Care Resource Centers or lose their state subsidy.)

Judy Samelson, CEO of ECIC, had this to say:"At least in Michigan we are going to be able to say that no one gets a public subsidy without at least having had at least a basic understanding and i think that's a very important statement to make."

One minor quibble with the report: It used this line to support the statement that some don't like the training: "Just over 50 percent of the aid and relative providers have registered for their training."

I suspect that registration percentage has more to do with normal human procrastination than it does with any widespread dissatisfaction with the idea of training. Most providers, I bet, want to feel prepared in an emergency.

Thanks to reporter Jessica Harbin for a quality report. You can watch/read the full piece here.

Andy Heller is communications director for ECIC.