Ohio child care workers, business leaders push for pilot program to subsidize care

The leaders of multiple child care businesses in Ohio urged state lawmakers once again to support measures to boost child care in the state.

Members of the business and advocacy sectors also joined in to ask for further supports for those who take care of the state’s children while the children’s parents work.

They all spoke in support of Ohio House Bill 484, which would create a pilot program within the Ohio Department of Children and Youth to allow child care workers to themselves receive Publicly Funded Child Care regardless of household income.

The pilot program would last from fiscal year 2026 to 2027 if approved, similar to measures states like Michigan and Kentucky have already put into practice.

Tashianna Kwakye said the legislation represents an optimistic future for child care businesses like the one she owns, with workforces dwindling because of the need for their own child care.

“Many providers are waiting for this, it’s the hope that we hold on to so that we don’t close,” Kwakye said.

The business owner told the Ohio House Children and Human Services Committee the high cost of child care, the shortage of workers and the lack of public funding for those workers “cripples our businesses and thereby cripples our economy.”

“Previously, I testified that 80% of our child care workers needed child care,” Kwakye said. “Since that testimony, we have lost 60% of our staff at our Dayton and Columbus locations. The employees left work after not qualifying for (Publicly Funded Child Care).”

Kwakye said the business attempted to lighten the burden for workers by discounting tuition by 50%, and increasing salaries.

Still, workers weren’t able to afford tuition, forcing the closure of rooms and elimination of slots in the rooms that are still open.

Without open slots in child care facilities, families are often forced to leave the workforce to take care of their kids, impacting the economy of the state as a whole, along with the individual families.

“We have a window of opportunity now to ensure that Ohio has a stable and qualified workforce ready to meet employer needs,” said Rick Carfagna, senior vice president at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

“Unfortunately, we have an entire demographic of Ohioans that are skilled, educated and hardworking, yet not able to fully participate in the labor force because child care in our state is too scarce, and when available is too expensive.”

Even those who are working and can find available child care have to shell out much of their paychecks to gain access.

According to recent research by the national First Five Years Fund, the annual price of center-based care in Ohio for one child is estimated at $13,780, or more than $1,100 per month.

Home-based care runs an estimated $880 per month, according to the research.

Child care costs in Ohio represent 11.1% of the median income for a married couple, and 40% of a single parent’s household income for center-based care.

“It costs just as much to have someone watch your kid while you go to work as it does to put your kid through college,” Carfagna said.

The child care challenges are having an impact on the amount of kids that are coming into existence as well, with Carfagna citing a state report that shows projected population decline of 675,000 people by 2050, a drop of 5.7%.

People “simply are not having children to the extent that they once did,” Carfagna said, attributing the change “largely” to the expenses of child care.

That concerns Ohio Right to Life, a lobby group that promotes pregnancy and speaks out against abortion.

“From our interactions with parents and caregivers across all demographics, we know that child care remains one of the largest obstacles in building a family,” said Katie DeLand, Ohio Right to Life’s director of policy and legislative affairs.

The bill has a chance of making it through the legislature with Republican sponsors at the helm.

It follows other measures attempting to improve child care in the state through the most recent state operating budget, though some changes in the budget left advocates and workers wanting.

The budget included $10 million for a “Child Care Cred Program,” allowing cost-sharing among employers, employees and the state for child care.

Under the budget, participating employers and eligible employees would pay 40% each for the care costs, while the state would cover the other 20%.

The Child Care Choice Voucher Program was also left in the budget, with $50 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) dollars set to go to the program over the next two years.

The budget also included a grant program for child care worker recruitment, but the provision saw a cut amid the budget process, receiving $2.85 million over two years in the final approved budget.

The budget did not include one of the most sought-after items for child care advocates: a jump in eligibility for Publicly Funded Child Care.

Researchers in the state have said more funding for child care needs to come directly from the state, rather than from federal sources, but the assistance for low-income families topped the lists of many who engaged with the legislature as budget talks went on.

After the budget was signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, Lynanne Gutierrez, president and CEO of child advocacy group Groundwork Ohio said without new action, the state would face a $600 million “shortfall in child care funding next biennium as one-time federal dollars dry up.”

Legislators maintained the previous eligibility for Publicly Funded Child Care of 145% of the federal poverty level, though advocates had pleaded for a raise to at least 160%, if not 200%.

The level keeps the state as one of the lowest in the country in household eligibility for the program, something that is a hardship for Kwakye’s workers.

Many workers who were forced to leave her facilities said they were denied Publicly Funded Child Care because they didn’t meet the income qualifications, but some were denied “out of error” or the need for further employment verification.

In all cases, the lack of help with child care forced them out of the workforce.

The new bill comes as a government shutdown threatens a number of federal Head Start early childhood programs in the state.

Groundwork Ohio urged supporters on Tuesday to contact Congress members and demand an end to the shutdown.

If the shutdown continues, seven of the state’s 59 Head Start providers “will be forced to close as early as Nov. 1,” according to the email from Groundwork.

“That means 3,738 children could lose access to early learning, nutritious meals and health screenings,” Groundwork stated.

“More than 900 teachers and drivers could be furloughed and over 1,500 working parents could lose the child care they depend on to stay employed.”

The government shutdown has been ongoing since Oct. 1, when Congress couldn’t agree on the appropriation of funds for the federal government to continue.

The stalemate carries on as Republicans say they won’t negotiate while the government is shutdown, and Democrats won’t agree to a reopening that doesn’t include Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that are set to expire.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal. View the original article.