Congratulations to Tanny Crane, winner of the 2024 John Glenn Inspiration Award — an award developed by COSI to recognize outstanding leaders whose public service and community impacts inspire us all. Truly a well-deserved distinction.

QUOTABLE & NOTABLE

“While there is much to be proud of in Ohio, the state and its policymakers must also focus on laying the foundation for continued investment and creating economic growth. When we canvass our members on their greatest challenges, the universal response continues to be workforce. We recognize that to have a qualified, reliable and thriving base of employees, any discussion of workforce must also include access to transportation, affordable housing and perhaps the single biggest throttle to employment entry or re-entry, child care. ...

“With child care remaining a pervasive workforce challenge, Ohio’s solutions must be three-dimensional, sustainable and elastic over time. This effort will take many complex conversations among policymakers, business leaders and families about provider regulations and how best to incentivize people to enter the caregiver profession and keep them in service. It’s no longer a discussion about luring companies to Ohio or improving quality of life; the existing need is pronounced, and we must create new trajectories to accommodate the dramatic economic growth arriving in just a few years.”

Who:

Steve Stivers, president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and former U.S. representative

Where: “Addressing child care dilemma is crucial for Ohio” published in The Morrow County Sentinel

FACT OF THE WEEK

One in five parents with children under age 18 report that child care is their greatest financial stressor, according to a new survey by NerdWallet and described in The Bump. Survey respondents cited financial reasons as a leading reason for not having children — or for not having additional children (among current parents). On a related topic, a recent analysis estimated the cost of raising two children from birth to age 18 to be $576,896.

POLICY RADAR

Ohio

The “science of reading” provisions passed in Ohio’s most recent state budget required, among many things, that school districts use instructional and curricular materials that are approved by the state as evidence-based. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce surveyed districts late last year about their materials and professional development, and has released the survey results. As Ohio Capital Journal reports, about a third of respondents are using at least one of the approved materials. Schools have until next school year (2024-2025) to use materials from the state’s approved list.

Federal

A new Department of Health and Human Service rule (which operationalizes proposals in an executive order issued by President Biden in April 2023) promises to make child care more affordable for an estimated 100,000 American families. The rule makes changes to the Child Care and Development Fund specifically to increase provider payments, streamline application and eligibility processes for families, expand choices for families, and reduce costs to seven percent of household income.

BEYOND THE BUCKEYE STATE

Tennessee’s State Board of Education passed a resolution asking that the state’s laws on literacy be revisited — specifically retention rules that are commonly applied to third graders. The Board suggested that retention be considered for earlier grades, including kindergarten, first, and second grade.

Massachusetts has found a way to continue funding child care providers after federal ARPA funds expired. Through state-funded Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grants that reach 93% of providers in the Bay State, leaders in the state have, to the tune of $475 million, demonstrated their commitment to supporting providers who faced the “funding cliff” imposed by expiration of stabilization funds. Interestingly, C3’s funding formula is equity-adjusted and incorporates the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index, thus driving dollars toward providers serving the most historically marginalized children.

Also worth noting about Massachusetts, a recent executive order from Gov. Maura Healey is asking for a “whole of government approach to child care.” This approach will develop cross-agency and cross-sector collaboration to improve child care access, bringing together “teams from housing, child care, education, economic development, workforce development, health care and human services to work in partnership with the business community to develop new and innovative strategies to expand access, build new facilities, and reduce costs for families.”

WHAT WE'RE READING

Ohio Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Steve Stivers' op-ed column calling for improved child care access — mentioned above under "Quotable & Notable" — has generated media interest. Cleveland.com’s Laura Johnston discussed Stivers’ column and ideas regarding child care in Ohio in the news site’s daily "Today in Ohio" podcast, and reporter Jeremy Pelzer discusses it further here.

Ohio Capital Journal describes the organizing efforts of new national group, Campaign for Child Care, through the lens of two Ohio moms.

First Five Years Fund published helpful fact sheets that describe various federal early childhood funding streams that fund state-subsidized child care programs, Head Start/Early Head Start, home visiting programs, and more.

NPR describes a new report borne from a yearlong task force, the Convergence Collaborative on Supports for Working Families, which convened folks from across the political spectrum hailing from jobs in government, policy, and child development, and asked them to consider bipartisan strategies to help families with young children flourish. The resulting report is chock full of insights and recommendations — not just for specific policy actions for also related to reframing the narrative about what it’s like to raise families in America.

This edition was written by Jamie O’Leary.

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