MIGRANT DAY CARE PROGRAM: A State-Wide System

UMOS has been funded for migrant childcare services through state funding since 1986. The Migrant Day Care program was created in the late 1980s to address the many childcare needs that directly impact the migrant and seasonal farmworker worker in the State of Wisconsin. The Migrant Day Care Program has developed a statewide system of licensed childcare centers and certified in-home providers, which deliver childcare services to targeted populations.

UMOS, through the Migrant Day Care Program, provides services to approximately 394 children six weeks to 12 years of age. This is inclusive of seasonal farmworkers as well as migrant farmworkers in various counties within the State of Wisconsin. The Migrant Daycare program serves as a “wrap around program” for Migrant and Seasonal Head Start. This program allows MSHS-eligible families childcare services prior to the commencement and after the closure of the Migrant Head Start Program. Childcare services usually commence in early March when a few families begin to arrive in Wisconsin and terminates by December.

Services are provided indirectly through licensed and/or certified providers and through centerbased operations. Extended services during the MSHS operational season can range from 12 to 14 hours, including Saturday services during peak harvest periods where UMOS can provide services to families through a combination of UMOS operated facilities and childcare operators. In 2006, Migrant Day Care provided direct child care services through extended care (Saturdays, mornings, evenings, pre-MHS, and post MHS) to children between the ages of six weeks thru five years, 11 months of age, at the seven locations in Wisconsin that serve Outagamie, Winnebago, Adams, Waushara, Marquette, Green Lake, Columbia, Dodge, Manitowoc, Ozaukee, Jefferson, Juneau, Fond Du Lac, Waukesha, Dane, and Waupaca counties.