By Meredith Moss, Staff Writer Updated 11:15 AM Sunday, May 30, 2010

DAYTON — State budget cuts have forced child care centers to cut hundreds of jobs and forced the closing of centers across Ohio and in the Dayton area.

Child care providers have already eliminated more than 600 paying jobs and anticipate cutting more than 450 more, according to the 35 percent who responded to a statewide survey conducted by The Alliance of Early Learning Advocates.

Forty-five centers closed for financial reasons just in the second half of the last fiscal year. This year is already well above that pace, according to the Bureau of Child Development of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

The closings come as state budget cuts reduced the amount allocated for subsidized child care costs for working parents. Eligibility rules also changed.

In Montgomery County, 15 programs closed in the past year, according to Robyn Lightcap of the county’s ReadySetSoar.

Ben Johnson of ODJFS estimates that these “adjustments in our child care subsidies will save $129.3 million in state fiscal year 2010.”

In Montgomery County, he said, the number of children who received subsidized care dropped from 7,185 in December 2008 to 6,832 in December 2009.

Clarissa Moore, a 22-year-old Dayton mother, took an extra job to make more money to help raise her 3-year-old son. The income put her over the limit for child care help.

After quitting the job, she reapplied for the subsidies and was turned down due to the state’s new requirements.

Moore currently pays $150 of her weekly $250 salary for child care. When she received help, she paid just $25.

“It’s overwhelming for a single parent,” Moore said.

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