Child care file image. (Photo: Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent/States Newsroom.)
Leaders of many Ohio child care companies have once again called on state lawmakers to support measures to improve child care in the state.
Members of the business and advocacy sectors also chimed in, asking for continued support for those caring for the state’s children while the children’s parents work.
Everyone spoke in favor Ohio House Bill 484which would create a pilot program at the Ohio Department of Children and Youth Services allowing child care workers to receive publicly funded child care regardless of household income.
The pilot program would run from fiscal year 2026 to 2027 if approved, similar to measures that states like Michigan and Kentucky have already put into practice.
Tashianna Kwakye said the legislation creates an confident future for child care businesses like the one she owns, with fewer employees due to the need to provide their own child care.
“Many suppliers are waiting for this. It’s the hope we’re clinging to so that we don’t close down,” Kwakye said.
A business owner told the Ohio House of Representatives’ Committee on Children and Human Services that high child care costs, worker shortages and a lack of public funding for those workers are “crippling our businesses and therefore crippling our economy.”
“I previously testified that 80% of our child care workers needed care,” Kwakye said. “Since this testimony, we have lost 60% of our staff at our Dayton and Columbus locations. Employees left their jobs after becoming ineligible for (publicly funded child care).”
Kwakye said the company tried to ease the burden on workers by reducing tuition fees by 50% and increasing salaries.
However, the workers could not afford the tuition fees, which forced them to close the halls and eliminate places in those that were still open.
When there are no vacancies in childcare facilities, families are often forced to give up work to take care of their children. influencing the state’s economy as a whole, including individual families.
“We now have an opportunity to provide Ohio with a stable and skilled workforce ready to meet the needs of employers,” said Rick Carfagna, senior vice president of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
“Unfortunately, we have an entire demographic of Ohioans who are skilled, educated and hard-working, but are unable to fully participate in the workforce because child care in our state is too scarce and, when available, too expensive.”
Even those who work and can find affordable child care must fork over most of their wages to access it.
According to recent research conducted by Kraj First five-year fundthe annual cost of care at an Ohio center for one child is estimated at $13,780, or more than $1,100 per month.
The study found that the cost of home care is approximately $880 per month.
Child care costs in Ohio are 11.1% of the median married couple’s income and 40% of a single parent’s household income for center-based care.
“Babysitting your child while you go to work costs the same as sending your child to college,” Carfagna said.
Child care challenges also impact the number of babies being born, with Carfagna citing a state report that shows a projected population decline of 675,000 people by 2050, a 5.7% decline.
People “just don’t have kids as much as they used to,” Carfagna said, attributing the change “largely” to child care costs.
This includes Ohio’s Right to Life, a lobbying group that promotes pregnancy and speaks out against abortion.
“We know from our interactions with parents and caregivers across all demographics that child care remains one of the biggest obstacles to building a family,” said Katie DeLand, director of policy and legislative affairs at Ohio Right to Life.
The bill has a chance to pass through the legislature with Republican sponsors in the lead.
This follows other measures aimed at improving child care in the state through the latest state operating budgetalthough some changes in the budget created a shortage of supporters and staff.
The budget included $10 million for the “Child Care Credit Program,” allowing child care costs to be shared among employers, employees and the state.
Under the budget, participating employers and eligible employees would each pay 40% of care costs, with the state covering the remaining 20%.
The budget also left the child care voucher program in place, with $50 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds earmarked for the program over the next two years.
The budget also included a grant program to recruit child care workers, but that amount was cut during the budget process, resulting in $2.85 million over two years in the final approved budget.
The budget did not include one of the items most sought after by child care advocates: increasing eligibility for publicly funded child care.
Researchers in the state said more funding for child care should come directly from the state, not state aid from federal sourcesbut aid for low-income families was top of the list for many people who contacted the Legislature during budget talks.
After Gov. Mike DeWine signed the budget, Lynanne Gutierrez, president and CEO of the children’s advocacy group Groundwork Ohio, said that if no fresh action is taken, the state will face a “child care funding shortfall” of $600 million next biennial as one-time federal dollars droughty up.
Lawmakers kept existing eligibility for publicly funded child care at 145% of the federal poverty level, although supporters have advocated raising that level to at least 160%, if not 200%.
This level makes the state among the lowest in the country for household eligibility for the program, which poses a hardship for Kwakye workers.
Many of the workers who were forced to leave its facilities said they were denied publicly funded child care because they did not meet income criteria, but some were denied “due to error” or the need for further employment verification.
In all cases, lack of childcare support forced them to withdraw from the labor market.
The fresh draft bill appears due to the threat of government suspension for many institutions federal Head Start early childhood programs able.
Groundwork Ohio called on supporters Tuesday to contact members of Congress and demand an end to the suspension.
If the shutdowns continue, seven of the state’s 59 Head Start providers “will be forced to close as early as November 1,” according to an email from Groundwork.
“This means 3,738 children could lose access to early learning, nutritious meals and preventive health screenings,” Groundwork said.
“More than 900 teachers and drivers could be furloughed and more than 1,500 working parents could lose the childcare they depend on to stay employed.”
The government shutdown has been in place since Oct. 1, when Congress was unable to agree on how to allocate funds to keep the federal government running.
The impasse continues as Republicans say they won’t negotiate until the government shuts down and Democrats won’t agree to a reopening that doesn’t include Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that are set to expire.
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