{"id":197475,"date":"2025-09-22T20:55:40","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T01:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=197475"},"modified":"2025-09-22T20:55:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T01:55:52","slug":"program-to-make-child-care-affordable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/09\/22\/program-to-make-child-care-affordable\/","title":{"rendered":"Program to make child care affordable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLUMBUS — A new program to make child care more affordable was unveiled on Monday by Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) Director Kara Wente.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Child Care Cred Program is a $10 million program designed to make child care more affordable for working families while helping Ohio businesses strengthen their workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program was created through Ohio\u2019s SFY26\u2013SFY27 biennial budget and is designed to tackle one of the state\u2019s biggest workforce challenges: access to affordable child care.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Mike DeWine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThe new Child Care Cred Program is designed to help Ohio\u2019s families get access to childcare,\u201d DeWine said.  \u201cWhen parents have quality childcare, Ohio\u2019s employers have productive employees who are not worried about their kids during work. It is a win for Ohio\u2019s working families and for businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChild care isn\u2019t just a family issue, it\u2019s a workforce issue,\u201d Wente said. \u201cThe Child Care Cred Program makes care more affordable for parents, while giving Ohio employers a smart, practical way to support their teams. It\u2019s a win for families, businesses, and communities across our state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am proud to be one of the many partners who collaborated on advancing this important initiative through House Bill 2 and the Budget,\u201d said Representative Mark Johnson (R-Chillicothe). \u201cThe rising cost of childcare has placed a heavy burden on Ohio families, and while much work remains, this is an opportunity to build stronger partnerships between families and businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving affordable and accessible childcare not only supports working parents and their children, but allows businesses to retain dedicated workers,\u201d said Senator Michele Reynolds (R-Canal Winchester). \u201cThe Child Care Cred Program represents a significant step in solving Ohio\u2019s childcare crisis. I\u2019m proud to see this program go into effect and I look forward to seeing the benefits this will bring to Ohio\u2019s working families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnsuring a stable workforce for Ohio\u2019s growing economy encourages us to support our working families,\u201d said Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster). \u201cBy creating a cost-sharing model between parents, employers, and the State of Ohio to help families afford quality childcare, businesses can focus on the needs of their company while maintaining a stable workforce. I\u2019m proud to see this program go into effect and look forward to the relief and opportunities it will bring for working families across the Buckeye State.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Families must live in Ohio and employers must be Ohio-based to qualify for the program. Employers and employees must work together to submit an application through DCY. Once approved, families may enroll their child in a licensed program or remain with their current provider and receive assistance with costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Applications are due by May 1, 2026, with funding available through June 30, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This initiative is part of Governor DeWine\u2019s broader effort to expand access to quality child care. Alongside the Child Care Cred program, the state\u2019s biennial budget \u2014 backed by the Ohio General Assembly \u2014 expands child care voucher eligibility, increases early learning grants, and boosts support for in-home providers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VW independent staff\/submitted information COLUMBUS — A new program to make child care more affordable was unveiled on Monday by Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) Director Kara Wente. The Child Care Cred Program is a $10 million program designed to make child care more affordable for working families while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-20 08:59:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197475"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197497,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197475\/revisions\/197497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}