Groundwork Ohio and the RAPID Survey Project are inviting families with children under the age of 6 to take a brief survey between now and Thursday, May 2.

QUOTABLE & NOTABLE

FACT OF THE WEEK

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced an $85 million grant program for child care providers. Grants will be available for startups, program expansion, repairs, and assistance to increase capacity to serve children with special needs.

Ohio’s Step Up to Quality program 

Ohio is moving toward streamlining its quality rating and improvement system for child care providers. As Cleveland.com reports, Step Up to Quality would shift away from the use of five stars and instead use three quality tiers of bronze, silver, and gold. Along with these proposed changes will be an increase in the subsidy payment for providers.

New Ohio legislation 

A soon-to-be proposed House bill would create a child care cost-sharing program in Ohio like ones seen in other states, such as the “tri-share” program in Michigan. The program would create opportunities for employers to sign up to help pay a portion of eligible employees’ child care costs, with the state kicking in a third and parents paying a third.  

A separate bill proposed in the House would provide grants of up to $750,000 to employers to help establish on-site (or nearby) child care options for employees. 

The Ohio Statewide Engagement Center is offering a free tool for educators, school districts, and researchers to assess family engagement efficacy beliefs.

Crane Faculty Associate Dr. Shayne Piasta was featured on The Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology’s Inspire podcast discussing the importance of teaching reading comprehension. Dr. Piasta also shared tips to Ohio State alumni on helping children learn to read.

California is launching a longitudinal Cradle-to-Career Data System that will provide data on student outcomes from early education to the workforce. The creation of the data set was backed by legislation passed in 2019 and built by seeking input from the community on priorities in data collection.

In 2022, Kentucky launched an initiative to subsidize child care costs for early educators in the state. Recently, several states are making plans to follow suit. Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment estimates that that 234,300 workers with children under age six could benefit if all 50 states (plus Washington, D.C.) were to implement Kentucky’s subsidy model.

WHAT WE'RE READING

The NIEER State of Preschool 2023 Yearbook highlights enrollment and spending on state-funded preschool programs within and across states. Throughout the 2022-2023 school year Ohio state-funded preschool enrolled 18,000 children — a slight increase (1,268) from 2021-2022. Ohio’s state spending totaled $72 million (a 1% increase from last year — adjusted for inflation). State spending per student enrolled was $4,000 — a decrease ($268) from the previous year. Overall, Ohio met five quality standard benchmark: 1. early learning and development standards; 2. curriculum support; 3. teacher specialized training; 4. screening and referral; 5. continuous quality improvement system.

This article from TheEverymom.com shares important insights from mothers (in the form of direct quotes) about how they piece together and pay for child care.

Cleveland.com recaps an event hosted by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and featuring Ohio’s new Department of Children and Youth agency director Kara Wente discussing challenges and solutions for the child care sector.

This edition was written by Jamie O’Leary and Janelle Williamson.

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