Ohio’s child care oversight is transparent and effective

Divisive claims of fraud are misleading and could jeopardize kids’ safety

Ohio’s child care system faces real challenges—but widespread fraud is not one of them. Policymakers and advocates must address workforce shortages due to low pay, skyrocketing costs, and other issues to ensure families have affordable access to quality care. Recent misleading claims circulating online and recent calls for investigations by some members of the Ohio House of Representatives distract from the real work of improving child care.

Ohioans deserve accurate information about how child care oversight works in our state, where robust systems are already in place. These crucial accountability measures include regular unannounced inspections and strict licensing requirements, to protect both children and taxpayers.

Nearly 5,200 Ohio child care programs accept payments subsidized by the state. In 2025 Ohio’s Department of Children & Youth (DCY) investigated 124 fraud tips and found 61 programs that had received overpayments. The overpayments were returned and 12 programs were closed as a result. This is how accountability and transparent oversight are supposed to work.

DCY and county Jobs & Family Services (JFS) licensing specialists conduct regular, unannounced inspections of licensed child care facilities to ensure compliance with health, safety, and program standards. In fact, during FY 2025, DCY and JFS conducted 19,983 inspections across Ohio, covering every licensed provider. These inspections are thorough and documented, and reports are publicly available. Families can look up their provider’s most recent inspection using the state’s online lookup tool.

Under Ohio law, every licensed program must meet strict health and safety standards. Before opening, new programs must pass a rigorous pre-licensing inspection to receive a one-year provisional license. They submit to extra inspections during their first year, and once licensed, child care centers and school-age programs receive at least one unannounced inspection each year, while family child care homes receive two inspections annually: one in each half of the fiscal year, with at least one unannounced. In addition to these routine visits, state and county specialists investigate all complaints to ensure compliance and protect children. Programs with compliance issues receive even more frequent inspections.

“Ohio already has strong systems in place to protect children and taxpayers,” said Policy Matters Ohio senior project coordinator and child care researcher Ali Smith. “Licensed child care providers undergo routine, thorough, unannounced inspections every year, and those reports are available for anyone to review. Suggesting that oversight is lax is simply not true.

“Families should be cautious about unsubstantiated claims of fraud. Many viral videos circulating online—often showing empty child care centers—were filmed during holiday breaks when facilities were closed. These videos do not reflect fraud; they reflect normal seasonal closures or in some cases brand new centers not yet serving children and their families. We urge Ohioans to rely on official sources rather than social media speculation.

“Ohioans deserve facts, not fear. Some recent statements and social media posts have gone beyond calls for accountability and veered into rhetoric that unfairly targets immigrant communities. This kind of language inflames divisions, does nothing to strengthen child care oversight, and could endanger children and providers by encouraging amateur ‘investigations.’ It is never appropriate for unlicensed individuals to enter child care facilities unannounced to photograph or record children. Protecting children’s privacy and safety is paramount, and licensed providers are rightly required to restrict access to strangers for that reason.”