"You can have the best training, but if you don’t have child care you can’t go to work.  You can have available jobs, but if you don’t have a healthy foundation you won’t be qualified to work down the road..."

Lynanne Gutierrez

Groundwork Ohio

Groundwork Ohio

"If we really want babies to get a healthy start and promote early brain development, we need our youngest children to be in the hands of individuals who have the training and knowledge to care for little people. "

MaryBeth Bush 

"I am writing to ask that consideration be given to maintaining the current rates for rural counties so we can continue to offer the same quality of care to all families who need us."

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Karen Charles

Eaton Day Care Owner

"Private pay families will also have an immediate tuition increase. Our

quality of early childhood care and education will immediately decrease and will neutralize all the time and effort we have accomplished to improve our programs."

Michelle Davidson

Imagination Station Learning Center

"What happens before a child ever enters kindergarten is the single most effective strategy to ensure success in third grade—a pivotal point in the educational journey and key predictor of future success..."

Laura DiCola

Summit Education Initiative

"Across the country, 71 percent of young people between the ages of 17 and 24 do not qualify for military service… This is indicative of a larger issue..."

Brigadier General (Ret.) Charles O. Dillard

Mission: Readiness

Mission: Readiness

"Child care providers across the state are being asked to become a star rated provider. In order to provide this level

of care, we will need to provide more tools for our children."

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Domanica Ede

Safe Haven Family Childcare

"When we think about the economic growth of our state, the reality is that child care is one of the most fundamental components of our business infrastructure."

Vanessa Freytag

4C for Children

"Make no mistake, private philanthropy cannot solve our quality childcare crisis alone. Private philanthropy can serve as a partner to state government, testing models and showing what works."

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Tara Johnson-Noem

United Way of Greater Cincinnati

"We all appreciate the gravity of this task. What we would urge you to consider is the cost of waiting two more years to make these important state investments in our young children."

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Katie Kelly

PRE4CLE

"There will need to be additional state investment to really make our childcare system work for children and families."

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Robyn Lightcap

Learn to Earn Dayton

"Many of our children that walk through my doors receive the best meals, attention, learning

and love that they will get that day. Help us help these children!"

Lora Maxel

The Kid Connection

"Many times the qualified employees will move to one of our urban neighbors getting significantly more money—lowering the reimbursement rate will only exacerbate this problem."

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Jane Marshall

United Way of Greater Dayton

"When parents are not eligible for publicly funded child care, but cannot afford high private pay rates, they seek lower paying jobs, request less hours in their job, or drop out of the workforce to stay home..."

Misti Norman

Heavenly Kids Center for Learning

"The research is clear that only quality programs can produce the results needed to assure that the young children of today can be the productive citizens of tomorrow." 

Ron Rees

Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development

"Although these families make too much to qualify for PFCC, they are nowhere near able to afford licensed child care at the market rate, let alone quality care."

Tracey Rowe

Cincinnati Early Learning Centers

"Requiring us to participate in the SUTQ program with deadlines to meet. causes added hours for my staff, increase
in payroll, and added expense for supplies and yet you are going to take the funding away that we will use to meet these requirements."

Micki Sittloh

St. Clair Academy Child Care Center

"We have insufficient child care slots available in our county for parents who are doing the RIGHT thing—by either completing their education or working full time to support their families."

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Peg Tazewell

Knox County Head Start

"The total cost of providing access to affordable, high-quality early childhood education for all children exceeds current funding amounts."

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