The program recognizes a practical reality: many unemployed, underemployed, or DHS-supported adults cannot participate in workforce-development programs if childcare, transportation, training access, mentorship, and job routing are handled as separate problems.

This plan solves those problems through one integrated campus model.

The Design Team Collaboration / Midlink campus becomes a full-service workforce activation environment where parents can bring their children into a safe, structured, age-appropriate learning environment while they participate in education, hands-on training, employer engagement, apprenticeship routing, innovation tasks, and skilled work.

Core Vision
This is not a traditional daycare program.

This is a family-centered economic uplift engine.The model provides childcare for children ages 1 to 12 while parents and guardians participate in workforce-development activities on the same campus or through coordinated transportation to employer and education sites.

At the same time, older children receive age-appropriate exposure to STEM, creativity, reading, problem-solving, teamwork, maker activities, and early career imagination.Parents are not isolated from opportunity.

Children are not merely watched.
Families are moved together toward stability, learning, skill, dignity, and upward mobility.

Strategic Objectives
The program is designed to accomplish the following objectives:
Provide safe, high-capacity childcare for children ages 1 to 12.Remove childcare as a primary barrier to employment, training, education, and apprenticeship participation.

Create a DHS, Michigan Works, education, and contractor interface that routes participants into opportunity instead of passive assistance. Support single mothers, single fathers, unemployed adults, underemployed workers, displaced workers, returning citizens, veterans, homeless or recently homeless individuals, and economically distressed families.

Connect parents to skilled trades, engineering support roles, machine design, manufacturing, robotics, automation, logistics, business operations, and entrepreneurship pathways. Expose children to a positive culture of learning, work, technology, creativity, responsibility, and future opportunity.Create a measurable pilot that can be expanded statewide.

Target Population
The program is intended to serve families connected to one or more of the following categories:
 

• DHS benefit recipients

• Bridgecard households

• Michigan Works participants

• Unemployed adults

• Underemployed workers

• Single parents

• Homeless or housing-insecure families

• Displaced manufacturing workers

• Adults seeking retraining

• Adults seeking skilled-trades apprenticeship pathways

• Adults seeking college or university reentry

• Parents needing childcare to attend training or interviews

• Families needing structured transportation support

• High-potential individuals disconnected from the current labor market

The focus is not on labeling people by hardship.The focus is on converting untapped human capital into productive, supported, future-ready participation.

Program Structure
The campus model is organized into five primary operating zones.

Family Intake and Opportunity Routing
The first layer is intake, assessment, and routing.Participants enter through a coordinated interface involving Michigan Works, DHS-aligned referral pathways, contractor-managed case coordination, employer partners, education partners, and Design Team Collaboration.

Each participant may receive an individualized opportunity plan that identifies:

• Current employment status

• Childcare needs

• Transportation needs

• Education level

• Work history

• Skills and certifications

• Barriers to participation

• Interest in skilled trades

• Interest in college or university pathways

• Interest in manufacturing, robotics, automation, engineering, logistics, healthcare, business, or entrepreneurship

• Immediate work-readiness level

• Long-term career target

• Support services required

The goal is to avoid generic placement and instead create a realistic pathway forward.

Parent Workforce Development Zone
While children participate in the youth learning center, parents and guardians enter structured workforce activities.

These may include:

• Michigan Works appointments

• Career-readiness sessions

• Resume and interview preparation

• Employer introductions

• Skilled-trades orientation

• Apprenticeship information

• Basic tool familiarity

• Safety training

• Manufacturing fundamentals

• Digital literacy

• Financial literacy

• University pathway counseling

• Entrepreneurship sessions

• Hands-on shop exposure

• Team-based design activities

• Mentor-led work assignments

• Participants are placed into realistic pathways based on their readiness level.

Some may need basic stabilization and confidence rebuilding.
Some may be ready for immediate employment.
Some may be ready for apprenticeship.
Some may be ready for college reentry.
Some may already have advanced skills and simply need reconnection to opportunity.

Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Floor
The advanced manufacturing and innovation floor serves as the applied-learning environment.

This area may include:

• Assembly lines

• Robotics stations

• Machine design benches

• Electrical and controls stations

• Prototype assembly areas

• CAD review stations

• Instrumentation training stations

• Automation demonstrations

• Skilled-trades work zones

• Instructor-led team tables

• Employer demonstration areas

• Safety training zones

• Quality-control practice areas

• Business and commercialization tables

The purpose is to expose participants to real future-facing work rather than limiting them to low-mobility job placement. This is where the program becomes more than workforce administration. It becomes a live interface between people, education, employers, technology, and economic reinvention.

College Student and Mentor Leadership Layer
A major feature of the program is the use of college students, advanced trainees, engineers, skilled-trades leaders, and instructors as mentors.
 

College students may help lead:

• High school engagement groups

• Youth STEM activities

• Adult digital-literacy sessions

• CAD demonstrations

• Robotics and electronics demonstrations

• Career exploration workshops

• Tutoring and homework support

• Family technology nights

• Team-based design challenges

• Community innovation projects

This creates a two-way benefit.

College students gain leadership, teaching, applied project, and community-engagement experience.

Participants gain relatable mentorship from people who are already moving through the education and workforce pipeline. Children gain exposure to positive near-peer role models.

High School Student Pathway
High school students should be included in the broader campus model, but separately from the 1-to-12 childcare center.High school students may participate through structured school partnerships, career technical education, apprenticeship preparation, robotics clubs, skilled-trades exploration, and college-bridge activities.

Their pathway may include:

• Factory-floor tours

• PPE and safety orientation

• Mentorship from college students

• Introductory skilled-trades activities

• Robotics and automation exposure

• Engineering design challenges

• Career pathway counseling

• Apprenticeship-hour planning where legally permissible

• Dual-enrollment coordination

• University pathway planning

• Summer work-based learning

• Design Team Collaboration project participation

This creates a continuous pipeline:

• Childhood exposure

• Middle-school curiosity

• High-school pathway selection

• Apprenticeship or college transition

• Adult workforce participation

• Long-term career mobility

DHS and Bridgecard Interface
The Bridgecard can become a practical access tool for voluntary opportunity engagement.The program should not be framed as punishment or benefit restriction.It should be framed as activation, access, and support.

Bridgecard-linked services may help verify eligibility for:

• Transportation support

• Childcare access

• Training appointments

• Michigan Works routing

• Food-support coordination

• Family services

• Employer visits

• Education enrollment events

• Community innovation participation

The Bridgecard becomes a connection point between public support and opportunity infrastructure.

Transportation Model
Transportation is essential.

Many participants cannot access work or training because transportation is unreliable, unaffordable, or unavailable.

The program should include coordinated transportation (Free Bus Ride) to:

• Design Team Collaboration / Midlink campus

• Michigan Works locations

• Employer interviews

• Training centers

• Community college or university partners

• Apprenticeship providers

• Childcare drop-off and pickup points

• DHS-aligned support appointments

Education and University Bulk Tuition Integration
The program should align with University Bulk Tuition and Curriculum Dynamics.

Rather than sending participants into scattered, expensive, disconnected education pathways, the State, contractors, universities, community colleges, and employer partners can coordinate bulk access to relevant programs.

Education pathways may include:

• GED completion

• Digital literacy

• Skilled-trades certificates

• Industrial maintenance

• Mechatronics

• Robotics

• Automation

• Electrical systems

• Instrumentation

• Machine design

• Welding

• CNC machining

• Engineering technology

• Manufacturing systems

• Business operations

• Entrepreneurship

• Healthcare support pathways

• Logistics and supply chain

• Associate degree pathways

• Bachelor’s degree continuation

Bulk tuition creates scale, lowers cost, and allows the State to align education spending with workforce outcomes.

Curriculum Dynamics Integration
Curriculum Dynamics ensures that training is not static. Curriculum must evolve with industry.

The program should continuously update learning modules based on:

• Employer needs

• Automation trends

• AI adoption

• Robotics growth

• Manufacturing demands

• State licensing requirements

• Apprenticeship standards

• University requirements

• Skilled-trades shortages

• Regional economic opportunities

• Participant outcomes

This allows the State of Michigan to build a workforce system that adapts faster than disruption.

Government Contractor Role
Certified government contractor companies would serve as operational coordinators.

Their responsibilities may include:

• Program administration

• Participant intake

• Case coordination

• Transportation scheduling

• Childcare coordination

• Employer coordination

• Education partner coordination

• Attendance tracking

• Progress documentation

• Outcome reporting

• Compliance records

• Grant administration

• Safety documentation

• Data dashboards

• Contractor performance metrics

• Community engagement

The contractor model allows the State to scale the program while maintaining accountability and measurable outcomes.

Safety and Compliance
Because the program combines children, adults, training, and industrial environments, safety must be central.

Required safety measures include:

• Separate secured childcare zones

• Controlled access points

• Background checks for childcare workers

• Age-appropriate activity design

• Clear separation from hazardous equipment

• Glass-wall observation where appropriate

• PPE requirements for factory-floor participants

• Safety orientation for all adult participants

• Emergency evacuation plans

• Medical response procedures

• Child check-in and check-out system

• Visitor controls

• Instructor-to-participant ratios

• Teacher-to-child ratios

• Insurance review

• Licensing compliance

• State childcare compliance

• OSHA-aligned industrial safety practices

• Mandatory reporting compliance

• Food safety compliance where meals or snacks are provided

The program must be designed to protect children, participants, staff, employers, and the State.

Staffing Model
The integrated campus requires a layered staffing model.

Potential staff roles include:

• Program director

• DHS liaison

• Michigan Works liaison

• Government contractor coordinator

• Childcare director

• Licensed childcare teachers

• Youth activity coordinators

• STEM educators

• Transportation coordinator

• Employer engagement manager

• Apprenticeship coordinator

• University pathway coordinator

• Case managers

• Skilled-trades instructors

• Engineering mentors

• Safety officer

• Facilities manager

• Data and compliance manager

• Security staff

• Mental health and family-support referral coordinator

• Volunteer and mentor coordinator

The staffing model should be built for both operational discipline and human compassion.

Daily Operating Model
A typical program day may include:

• Morning participant check-in

• Childcare check-in

• Breakfast or snack support where applicable

• Parent orientation or training schedule review

• Michigan Works appointments

• Employer presentations

• Skilled-trades workshops

• Classroom instruction

• Hands-on assembly or design tasks

• Lunch and family support services

• Afternoon training blocks

• Youth learning activities

• Mentor sessionsTransportation coordination

• Progress documentation

• End-of-day family check-out

The program should be structured but flexible enough to support families with different levels of readiness.

Participant Pathway
Each adult participant may move through the following stages:

• Initial referral

• Intake assessment

• Barrier identification

• Childcare enrollment

• Transportation setup

• Career-readiness evaluation

• Education pathway recommendation

• Workforce training placement

• Mentor assignment

• Employer engagement

• Apprenticeship or job routing

• Progress review

• Retention support

• Long-term advancement plan

The objective is not just placement.

The objective is retention, advancement, and family-level economic mobility.

Pilot Program Design
A practical pilot could begin with one regional campus model.

Pilot Phase One:
SetupDuration:

• 90 to 180 days

• Key actions:

• Identify pilot facility

• Confirm childcare licensing requirements

• Confirm contractor structure

• Establish DHS and Michigan Works referral pathway

• Select education partners

• Identify employer partners

• Design transportation routes

• Create safety protocols

• Develop intake forms

• Develop participant opportunity plans

• Hire core staff

• Build data-tracking system

• Create initial curriculum modules

• Prepare childcare and youth activity zones

• Prepare factory-floor training zones

Pilot Phase Two:

• Initial Launch

 

Duration:

• 6 months

Target capacity:

• 2500 adult participants

• 75 to 150 children ages 1 to 12

• 10 to 20 employer partners

• 3 to 5 education partners

Multiple training and apprenticeship pathways

Initial services:

• Childcare accessTransportation support

• Michigan Works routing

• Basic workforce readiness

• Skilled-trades exposure

• Engineering and manufacturing exposure

• Employer site engagement

• University pathway counseling

• Mentorship

• Family stabilization referrals

Pilot Phase Three:

• ExpansionDuration: 6 to 18 months

• Expanded capacity:3000 to 5000 adult participants

• 200 to 500 children

• Expanded employer network

• Expanded university and apprenticeship pathways

• Additional transportation routes

• Additional program tracks

• Data-backed reporting to State stakeholders

Pilot Phase Four: Statewide Replication
Once outcomes are validated, the model can be replicated in additional Michigan regions.

Replication sites could be aligned with:

• Michigan Works regions

• Community college districts

• University partnerships

• Industrial corridors

• High-unemployment areas

• Manufacturing redevelopment zones

• Urban and rural service gaps

• Employer clusters

• DHS service-density regions

• Measurable Outcomes

The program should track clear performance metrics.

Adult Participant Metrics

• Number of participants enrolled

• Attendance rate

• Training hours completed

• Michigan Works appointments completed

• Employer interviews completed

• Job placements

• Apprenticeship placements

• Education enrollments

• Certifications earned

• Retention after 30, 90, and 180 days

• Wage growth

• Reduction in long-term assistance dependency

• Transportation utilization

• Participant satisfaction

• Barrier-resolution progress

Child and Family Metrics

• Children enrolled

• Average daily attendance

• Age-group participation

• School-readiness indicators

• Reading and activity participation

• Parent satisfaction

• Childcare stability

• Family schedule reliability

• Reduction in missed training due to childcare

• Referrals to family support services

• Youth STEM participation

Employer Metrics

• Employer partners engaged

• Worksite visits completed

• Open positions matched

• Candidate interviews

• HiresRetention outcomes

• Employer satisfaction

• Apprenticeship commitmentsTraining feedback

State and Community Metrics

• Cost per participant

• Cost per placement

• Public-assistance transition outcomes

• Education enrollment impact

• Local workforce participation

• Community engagement

• Replicability score

• Return on investment

• Reduction in service fragmentation

Funding Strategy
Potential funding sources may include:

• DHS program funding

• Michigan Works workforce-development funding

• State pilot grants

• Federal workforce grants

• Childcare development funding

• Employer sponsorships

• University partnership contributions

• Apprenticeship funding

• Economic development grants

• Transportation grants

• Philanthropic support

• Community foundation support

• Public-private partnership funds

• Contractor-administered service funds

The strategic goal is to convert fragmented funding into a coordinated closed-loop system.

Public-Private Partnership Model
The State does not need to build the entire system alone.

The model should combine:

• State oversight

• DHS participant connection

• Michigan Works workforce alignment

• Contractor administration

• University education pathways

• Employer hiring pathways

• Design Team Collaboration innovation infrastructure

• Childcare provider licensing and operation

• Transportation vendor support

• Community organization referrals

This creates a distributed but coordinated operating model.

Strategic Positioning
This initiative should be positioned as:

• A workforce transformation pilot

• A childcare-access solution

• A DHS activation model

• A Michigan Works enhancement

• An education-to-employment bridge

• A skilled-trades pipeline

• An engineering and manufacturing talent accelerator

• A family stabilization strategy

• A response to automation and employment disruption

• A statewide economic uplift model

The message is simple:
When childcare, transportation, education, training, and employment are connected in one system, families can move forward.

Why This Matters
Michigan cannot prepare for the future economy with disconnected systems. A parent cannot attend training if there is no childcare. A worker cannot accept opportunity if there is no transportation.

A displaced adult cannot reenter the workforce without mentorship, confidence, and a real pathway.

A child cannot imagine a future they never seen. A State cannot solve workforce shortages while leaving thousands of capable people outside the opportunity system.

This program addresses all of those realities in one integrated model.

Strategic Statement
Design Team Collaboration proposes a new interface between public assistance, education, childcare, skilled trades, advanced manufacturing, and economic development. The model is practical, pilot-ready, measurable, and scalable.
 

• It recognizes that economic uplift requires more than job postings.

• It requires Midlink infrastructure.

• It utilizes public transportation.

• It requires childcare.

• It requires education.

• It requires mentorship.

• It requires real work.

• It requires a place where families can walk in needing help and walk out connected to a future.

Michigan already has the people. Michigan already has the institutions. Michigan already has the employers. Michigan already has the education network. Michigan already has the need.

The opportunity now is to connect those pieces into one working system.Design Team Collaboration is prepared to serve as that interface.

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