Angela Murphy has worked at First English Lutheran Early Learning Center since 1998.
At the time, she was in her 20s. She worked as a preschool teacher.
Murphy remembers all her students’ names and keeps tabs on most of them long after they leave. Class photos hang in the center’s main hallway.
“Gabrielle. She works at the White House now,” she said, pointing at a sepia-toned class photo. “And Andrew. He’s in the military. And Caitlynne. She went to West Point.”
Murphy — who has worked as the center’s director since 2012 — estimates 75% of her job entails paperwork. It’s a reality that moves the longtime child care worker to tears.
That paperwork can sometimes feel like a distraction from what makes the job meaningful – loving and caring for children.
She’s not alone.
In a survey conducted by Source Media Properties, nearly 50 child care workers in Ashland, Richland and Knox county reported “meeting regulations and ratios” is one of their biggest challenges.
Providers also expressed anxiety over liability, rules being too strict and constant fear of being penalized for things outside their control — like sending children home for minor medical symptoms due to strict rules.
These sentiments bear out in data, too.
In July 2023, Gov. Mike DeWine established the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY). The cabinet-level department of consolidated child-focused programs from six state agencies.
Annual reports published by the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services — and since 2023, the Department of Children and Youth (DCY) — reveal the number of inspections performed by regulators across Ohio has increased 74% since 2019. Meanwhile, the number of licensed child care centers decreased by 6% in the same time period.
Jodi Norton Trimble, DCY’s communication director, said there are likely many reasons for this.
“We saw an increase in various types of inspections, including complaints, follow-up visits (return visits based on accumulated non-compliance points), incident/injury/illness reports and Step Up to Quality inspections, as SUTQ shifted from desk reviews to ongoing inspections with the move to continuous rating.
The state recently reworked Step Up to Quality — an optional quality rating metric for child care providers — with changes going into effect in July 2024. The intention was, in part, to reduce administrative burden, according to a DCY webinar held last year.
Also in 2024, follow-up visits were adjusted as the inspection protocol for child care centers, preschools, and school-age child care programs merged. Norton Trimble said the change streamlined oversight.
Nevertheless, the amount of paperwork and oversight — streamlined or not — is a lot, child care providers like Murphy said.
On one hand, Murphy understands the motivation behind the heightened scrutiny, which essentially boils down to keeping children safe so they can reach their full potential.
That is, in part, the DCY’s stated mission:
“…committed to making Ohio the best place to start and raise a family. The team is focused on helping all children live up to their full potential by providing developmentally appropriate services and resources from before they are born through adulthood.”
Understanding the Ohio Department of Children and Youth
DCY focuses on promoting early intervention, quality education, child care, family support and early childhood development programs. Part of its mission also includes inspecting the thousands of child care facilities across the state.
There are three ways a child care facility or provider can be inspected:
- Before licensing
- At least annually
- In response to complaints
Inspections, however, are also conducted when changes occur at a facility or for follow-up on previous non-compliance issues.
Inspectors check that providers keep adequate documentation for students and staff, ensure safety measures are being followed and check for cleanliness.
Murphy said DCY’s oversight provides checks and balances.
“A lot of this is just double checking what you already do,” she said.
In Ohio, licensed child care providers can apply for a Step Up to Quality (SUTQ) rating that demonstrates steps they’ve taken to boost the quality of their care.
It’s optional, but providers must participate if they serve families who receive government aid to help cover child care costs. The higher the SUTQ rating, the higher the reimbursement rate for publicly-funded child care.
SUTQ was launched in 2006 and seek to “promotes programs that meet and exceed quality program standards,” according to its website.
But it also creates an additional administrative burden for centers that choose to participate.
First English Lutheran Early Learning Center has a silver rating — the middle tier in the SUTQ system.
One SUTQ requirement Murphy definitely sees the value of is having a curriculum.
But she said First English Lutheran Early Learning Center used curriculum long before SUTQ existed.
Most of it — SUTQ and yearly inspections — feels like a distraction, Murphy said.
“I’m not a fan of Step Up. It doesn’t make my center,” she said.
She pointed to kids like Gabrielle, Andrew and Caitlynne, just a few children she looked after back in the day — when there was little to no paperwork.
“Just well-rounded kids and I didn’t have any of this. Just teach them, and love on them,” she said.
Recent inspections find no serious violations at local child care centers
There are 103 licensed child care facilities and providers in Ashland, Knox and Richland counties. According to the latest inspection reports available (between late 2024 and August 2025), inspectors found 360 violations, or an average of between three and four per site.
Most of them, 309, were considered “low-risk.” The rest were marked as moderate. There were no serious risks found in the region, according to this publication’s analysis of state data.
Many of those violations required the provider to give the state a “corrective action plan,” which is essentially a written plan on how the provider or center will avoid the issue in the future.
Statewide, providers reported 5,763 serious incidents and injuries, two fatalities and 48 substantiated child abuse and neglect incidents in child care centers between 2023 and 2024, according to the DCY’s latest annual report.
The state reported the two fatalities were cases where “both children were unresponsive after naptime. In each case, it was determined the program was not at fault.”
Licensed child care providers must electronically report serious risk violations through the Ohio Child Licensing and Quality System (OCLQS).
Serious risk violations, if not addressed, can lead to license revocations or suspensions. There were 22 revocations and three suspensions between July 2023 and June 2024, shows the latest annual report.
Understanding levels of non-compliance
Violations are categorized by severity and are indexed by a points system. There are low moderate and severe (or serious) violations.
- Low: a rule violation that does not lead to a great risk of harm or an increased risk of harm to, or death of, a child. (One point.)
- Moderate Risk Non-Compliance (MRNC): a licensure rule violation that has the potential to lead to an increased risk of harm to, or death of, a child and is observable, not inferable. (Three points.)
- Serious Risk Non-Compliance (SRNC): a licensure rule violation that has the potential to lead to a great risk of harm to, or death of, a child. (Six points.)
A program will not be eligible for a SUTQ rating, or a tier rating may be reduced or removed, if a program has a six-point serious risk, or a total of 24 points or more of serious and moderate risk non-compliances in a 12-month period.
All inspections — along with a facility’s basic information — are stored on the DCY’s database, dubbed the Ohio Child Licensing and Quality System.
There are eight DCY licensing specialists are assigned to Ashland, Knox, and Richland counties to monitor child care centers, while a total of 80 DCY licensing specialists oversee licensing and monitoring of child care centers across the state.
What have inspectors found locally?
Violations ran the gamut, from keeping substances like marijuana within reach of children to leaving toilets unflushed.
The most common low risk violations included providers not having updated child medical or physical care plans. Others were not having updated health training requirements for staff. Several providers were cited for issues with unsanitary or unsafe equipment.
The common thread in the moderate risk level was not meeting background check requirements of staff — typically not having them on file or having a missing signature.
Full reports are available to inspect through the state’s database, but those reports only go back to 2022 or 2023. Complete inspection reports dating back to a facility’s original licensing date are available upon request to DCY.
The table below allows you to search for a facility by name in Ashland, Knox or Richland counties. The table includes the provider’s address, Step Up to Quality rating and a link to its latest inspection report.
How centers navigate regulations
Meeting licensing and Step Up to Quality requirements and regulations — and ensuring a staff follows them — can be overwhelming, Murphy said.
To help navigate, the center attends trainings hosted by YWCA of North Central Ohio-Mansfield. Twice a year, the center closes for in-service trainings.
Murphy will often pull teachers during children’s nap times into a room to review certain rules and regulations.
“Other than that it’s a quick text saying ‘hey this rule changed — do it this way now,’” she said, chuckling.
‘It’s about loving’
Murphy shares an office with Megan Collins, the center’s secretary and Step Up to Quality (SUTQ) coordinator.
The office walls are covered with photos and children’s art. Their desks are cramped with paperwork — student files, SUTQ records, calendars.
The administrators had just had a lengthy annual review the day prior. They were inspected by someone new this time. The new inspector wrote them up for five violations — all related to missing signatures on files for a staff member who has been employed by the adjoining church for decades. The previous inspector hadn’t been as strict on the missing signatures.
In many ways, Murphy’s job has gotten more complicated over the years. It’s not just looking after the 62 children and 14 other staffers. She also has to coordinate yearly inspections from several agencies, make sure the center’s accounting is bullet (or audit) proof, field complaints and record everything in an orderly fashion.
Inspections, inspections, inspections
Licensed child care centers and in-home providers are subject to various inspections every year.
- Yearly fire inspections (conducted by the state fire marshal or local fire safety inspectors)
- Food service inspections (conducted by county health departments on programs that provide meals)
- Bus inspections (conducted by the Ohio State Highway Patrol on programs that offer transportation services)
- Playground equipment inspections (typically done by the center themselves)
- Audits, or “integrity reviews,” are done by various financial agencies if a program receives public funds
The Ohio Department of Children and Youth reviews all of the mentioned reports above during annual inspections at licensed child care centers or providers.
“Yeah. We kill a lot of trees,” she said, rifling through a three-inch binder full of Step Up to Quality measures and reports.
But the job, at its core, remains simple, Murphy said.
“It’s just loving on the kids … it’s about loving, not paperwork.”
Need to file a complaint?
If you suspect a child care program is not following the licensing rules, you can file a complaint.
Contact DCY’s Family and Customer Support Center at 1-844-234-5437 or email childcarepolicy@childrenandyouth.ohio.gov.
To report a misuse of Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) benefits or fraud, call 1-844-234-5437, or email childcare_program_integrity@childrenandyouth.ohio.gov to report what you know.
