To better understand what’s been happening beneath the surface of our ECE sector, Milwaukee Succeeds launched the Stability Project – a first-of-its-kind effort that brings together data, PhotoVoice and focus groups. A key part of this work is a set of new ECE-specific metrics developed by the Milwaukee Succeeds data team. The first among them is churn, which shines a light on the sector’s instability.

To better understand which child care programs are able to persist despite ongoing challenges, Milwaukee Succeeds developed a second metric: the stability rate. While churn measures turnover, the stability rate measures consistency, helping us identify which programs remain open year after year and where long-term endurance exists within the ECE sector.

Over the course of the Stability Project, Milwaukee Succeeds has worked to better understand what instability in ECE really looks like – and what it means for our city. First came churn, then came stability. Now, we’re looking at the most visible and immediate form of instability: program closures.