Cleveland.com’s Rethinking Child Care series covers a critical but often overlooked topic: “The daunting child care challenges for kids with special needs.” 

Quotable & Notable

“People often don’t realize until they’re looking for child care, how incredibly difficult and expensive it is, and then they think, ‘What is wrong with me?’ And the economic data helps show that this is not a ‘you’ problem. This is a larger systemic failure.”

Who:

Jeannina Perez, director of Early Childhood for MomsRising

Where: “The economic argument for child care is urgent. But is a child care system built for maximizing economic returns best for the people involved?” published in Early Learning Nation

Fact of the Week

Reporting from Early Learning Nation points out the low share of lobbying dollars spent by care organizations when the federal Build Back Better legislation was still in play, especially compared to groups who opposed the bill. The amount spent on lobbying by child care organizations for BBB’s passage was 1.4% of the overall lobbying spend on the bill.

Policy Radar

Last month, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced new grants for lead mitigation efforts in the state, $6.5 million of which will be available for upgrades to child care facilities.  The CDC reports that in 2021, Ohio had nearly 3,000 children under age six with dangerously elevated lead levels. The Ohio Department of Health outlines the dangers of lead exposure here.

Early this year, Gov. DeWine identified early reading among his priorities for the state — particularly the improvement of third-grade reading scores.

Crane in the News

A recent episode of the Now at Ohio State podcast dives into early childhood literacy, interviewing A. Sophie Rogers teacher Meredith Schilling as well as Crane Faculty Associate Dr. Shayne Piasta.

Beyond the Buckeye State

In his recent state budget proposal, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear included funding for universal pre-K for all four-year-olds, as well as dedicated funds for child care facilities.

This Vox story describes a Canadian policy to reduce child care costs to $10 a day for families, and the progress made by provinces to implement the policy since its inception three years ago. Canada’s deputy prime minister has called the child care plan “feminist economic policy” and “smart economic policy” that has created important social and economic infrastructure. The article discusses how the Canadian and U.S. contexts differ, but it suggests opportunities available in the United States to make child care here more affordable and sustainable.

Michigan’s “Tri-Share” program is gaining attention as an example of how states can reduce family child care costs. Tri-Share — quite aptly named for the cost-sharing arrangement between the state, the employer and the employee — has dramatically reduced care costs for families in the pilot program. Fun fact: Apparently it was first conceptualized by one state representative on a napkin.

What We’re Reading

This article in the nonprofit Texas news outlet Houston Landing is a sobering reminder of the ongoing and immense mental health needs facing children in the United States. While written through the lens of one child and her family in Houston, it describes the much broader national reality of children grieving the loss of parents and caregivers from COVID-19. A tracker and map quantify the loss by state and demographic categories. (In Ohio, some 10,500 have lost a primary or secondary caregiver.) 

This article in Early Learning Nation — also featured above in our quote and Fact of the Week — warrants further discussion as the points it raises are so

important. The economic case for increased child care accessibility is

overwhelming, but, the article asks, “Why haven’t arguments highlighting the

billions of dollars on the line moved us to action?” The article outlines the

strengths and limitations of using an economic frame to advocate for improved

government investments in child care. Yet also apparent in the failure of

economic arguments to sway elected officials is the reality that the child care

community needs more political power.

This edition was written by Jamie O'Leary.

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