COLUMBUS — Ohio’s latest biennium budget includes a pilot program designed to help working families that make too much for child care assistance with the costs of care.
Ohio’s operating budget dictates how tax dollars are spent and must be approved by the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives before being signed into law by the Governor.
The budget governs how the state’s money is allocated for a two-year period, called a biennium. Budgets take effect on July 1 of every odd-numbered year.
Ohio’s latest biennium budget, signed into law last week, appropriated $10 million for a Child Care Cred Program.
The cost-sharing program would provide matching funds from the state if an employer is also willing to chip in for the cost of child care.
“Many employers know there’s a large need out there. They understand that and they want to be helpful,” said Ohio Sen. Mark Romanchuk.
“I think under this kind of model, if the employer knew that employee had a little skin in the game and the state had a little skin in the game, they would be generally interested in helping out as well.”
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How does the program work?
Ohioans can take advantage of the program as long as they work for a participating employer located in the state and have a household income no greater than 400 percent of the federal poverty line.
That’s $106,600 for a family of three and $128,600 for a family of four based on the 2025 guidelines.
Under the new budget, employees and employers are each responsible for 40 percent of child care costs, while the Ohio Department of Children and Youth is responsible for 20 percent.
The bill does allow employers to cover some or all of the employee’s share if they wish to do so.
After the employee and employer are approved for the program by the Department of Children and Youth, employees can select a provider and enroll their child. Employees can also opt to use their current child care provider as long as they meet the guidelines for the program.
In order to participate, a child care provider must be licensed by the county job and family services department or certified as an in-home aide. Providers do not have to be rated through Ohio’s Step Up to Quality program, according to the legislation.
Similar programs exist in states like North Carolina, Kentucky and Michigan.
Families can participate in Michigan’s Tri-Share program if their income is no greater than 325 percent of the poverty level, but costs for child care are split equally between employees, employers and the state.
As of March 2024, the program included 203 employer participants, 550 employee participants and 371 child care providers.
An evaluation of the pilot program revealed strong employee satisfaction with it. Surveys also found that, on the employer side, the program appeared to have a strong impact on employee retention and a potential impact on recruitment.
But the program has limitations — primarily that it’s dependent on employer participation.
“My hope is that local employers will take advantage of this program,” said Amy Daubenspeck, president of the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce.
“However, from what I understand, national companies may/will not because they have to be able to offer this at all of their facilities.”
Other child care provisions
The new Child Care Cred Program isn’t the only child care related provision in the budget.
The budget also:
- Increased the number of children a licensed in-home child care provider can serve. Under the new budget, Type B homes can serve seven (rather than six) children and Type A homes can serve between eight and 14 (Rather than seven and 12). If a Type A home serves more than 7 children or at least four under 2 years of age, the law requires a second adult to be present in the home.
- Requires Ohio’s Department of Children and Youth to reimburse them for child care assistance payments based on a child’s enrollment, rather than attendance.
- Allocated $200 million in federal funding over the next two years for the Child Care Choice Voucher program, which serves households who make too much to qualify for publicly funded child care but have an income less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line.
- Allocated $2.85 million for a Child Care Provider Recruitment Program
- Established an Early Childhood Education Grant Program and allocated $130.3 million for each fiscal year. The grant program’s purpose is to support and invest in early learning and development programs, including licensed child care centers, licensed family child care homes, and licensed preschools.
Some proposed child care provisions didn’t make it into the final version of the budget bill.
In his initial proposal, Gov. Mike DeWine called for raising the income eligibility level for publicly funded child care from 145 percent to 160 percent of the federal poverty line. This would have allowed about 11,000 more children to qualify for assistance, according to GroundWork Ohio.
The final budget also didn’t include a refundable child tax credit proposed by DeWine, which would have provided families up to $1,000 per child under 7 years old.