Ohio needs to do better when it comes to childcare

*This piece was originally published by Cleveland.com and is reprinted with permission.

Ohio faces a childcare crisis on three fronts:

• Most Ohio families cannot afford high-quality care
• Many early childhood educators are paid too little to afford the basics
• Many childcare providers are barely getting by.

Policy Matters Ohio reports that a family of four with an infant and a toddler would need to bring in $352,000 annually for childcare to be considered affordable!

At the same time, early childhood educators earn a median wage of $13.44 an hour and childcare programs operate on razor-thin margins due to a lack of state investment.

In the budget negotiations now under way in Columbus, legislators are working against families and childcare providers. Gov. Mike DeWine’s budget proposal included funding that could stabilize the childcare sector, but the House removed it.

There is still time for the legislature to get it right, by increasing eligibility and funding for Ohio’s Publicly Funded Child Care program (PFCC), investing in the Department of Children & Youth and, above all, listening to childcare providers.

Getting their input will be easy. For the last three years, hundreds of childcare providers have been organizing with the Care Economy Organizing (CEO) Project to talk about the issues facing the childcare sector.

These include workforce shortages, insufficient support for PFCC (which assists low-wage families, homeless families and children with disabilities in accessing high-quality childcare) and cuts to safety net programs.

CEO Project leaders have recommendations, including a Free Childcare for Childcare Workers program. This program is a proven method for attracting and retaining qualified staff, thereby increasing childcare capacity so more families can access high-quality care.

In response to CEO Project’s efforts, State Sen. Louis W. Blessing III (R-Colerain Township) and State Sen. Jane Timken (R-Jackson Township) recently introduced Senate Bill 177, which would pilot the program.

The program would support workers in this critical sector and increase the overall capacity of Ohio childcare centers by 5,889 to 17,667 seats. These are seats for families who are in desperate need of childcare.

Early childhood educators are experts in their field, committed to work that is undervalued and underpaid, because they know how much a child’s future depends on receiving high-quality care.

They are educators, small business owners and trusted resources for the families they serve. They should be valued as such, both through state investment of dollars in the childcare sector and as drivers of policy change.

Free Childcare for Childcare Workers is an excellent piece of legislation that promises a huge return on investment for Ohio while holistically addressing the crisis.

It succeeds where other proposals fall flat because it is built on the expertise and first-person experience of the professionals doing the work.

On May 12, the CEO Project will give policymakers a chance to learn from their expertise and take tangible action to improve childcare at their fourth annual Day Without Childcare.

Hundreds of providers and the parents who rely on them will convene at the Statehouse to demand living wages for childcare providers, an equitable childcare system built on racial justice and affordable childcare for all families.

It’s past time to listen to the experts and invest in expanding affordable, quality childcare, with living wages for the hardworking childcare providers who care for and nurture the littlest Ohioans.