Starting next school year (2023-24), Ohio students can qualify for free- and reduced-price lunch through the Medicaid application process – made possible through Ohio’s selection to participate in the federal Direct Certification with Medicaid Demonstration Project. 

Quotable & Notable

Fact of the Week

An article by The 19th* asks why Congress has not been able to pass child care legislation and points out that the U.S. spends less on its youngest children than most other developed nations. As a measure of its national GDP, the U.S. spends just 0.2% on child care for children under age two.

Beyond the Buckeye State

Colorado’s newly expanded preschool program received 12,000 applications on the first day of enrollment, exceeding initial enrollment expectations. The expanded program opens up this fall and makes all 4-year-olds in the state eligible for a minimum 15 hours of preschool per week; even some 3-year-olds will be eligible for 10 hours per week. Applications will be evaluated on a variety of factors when matching children to a program, such as transportation and parent ranking of programs.

Wisconsin is among the many states whose governors are leading with child care and family-friendly proposals. Gov. Evers has proposed an expansion of the state Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit; a historic increase in public education funding; an increase in child care funding as well as initiative to build partnerships between employers and child care providers; and a new family leave program. 

Two early childhood bills have been introduced in Wyoming’s legislature; the first would eliminate property taxes for child care facilities and the second would create early childhood development “special districts.” Essentially, communities would be allowed to petition to create a special district (to be governed by elected representatives) and allow voters to give districts new taxing authority to pay for services for children (from birth to age eight). 

What We're Reading

This piece by Bloomberg describes the somewhat wonky but important issue of tax benefit regulations in the context of child care costs, and how they have not been adjusted to keep up with inflation. One clear example is how the maximum cap allowed for dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSAs) - which many families use to pay for child care and after school or summer care – has remained at $5,000 since 1986, despite skyrocketing care costs. In contrast to this “ancient contribution cap for child care FSAs,” contribution limits for 401(k)s, IRAs and health FSAs have all been indexed for inflation.

This piece by Brookings argues that in the absence of federal leadership on robust child care legislation, states should consider supplementing the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit to offer more tax relief to families.

New America outlines ways that states and localities are spending federal recovery funds to advance a comprehensive care agenda and support families. 

Research Round-Up

Crane Center faculty associate Dr. Matt Brock authored a study – published in American Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities - which examined the effectiveness of an intervention designed to build social and play skills of elementary students with severe disabilities. The study observed the interactions at recess of three students with autism and significant cognitive disabilities. Part of the intervention included showing the three students videos that portrayed their peers demonstrating social skills on the playground. After the intervention, the students saw increases in social interactions and play during recess. While this is a small sample size, Dr. Brock is continuing to study this on the FLIP Recess project at the Crane Center and presented some preliminary findings at our February Crane Research Forum which can be viewed here.