As you may have heard, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, with full support of the Administration, shared this week that they will be moving forward to rectify the 38 county child care rate reimbursement injustice that has impacted providers of nearly 40% of PFCC children over the past few years. These counties have been receiving lower rate reimbursements than their similar counterparts from the state, making it extremely difficult to work towards achieving quality in our rating and improvement system, Step Up to Quality. The Department of Job and Family Services plans to have this adjustment completed by December 2018. We will share more details about this transition as they come. As we celebrate this victory for child advocates across the state, we are keenly aware of the work that lies ahead of us. We hope you will continue to help elevate Groundwork's advocacy efforts by staying engaged on social media, keeping up to date on the latest early education news, and joining us to meet with legislators on May 8, 2019 at our Budget Advocacy Day!
FEATURED NEWS: Groundwork Ohio report shows too many of Ohio's youngest children are getting left behind By: Lucy May, WCPO Cincinnati
CINCINNATI -- Deemiah Duskin was a couple weeks shy of her 17th birthday when she became a mom and couldn't help feeling a bit overwhelmed. So when Duskin heard about Every Child Succeeds -- a program that could provide a trained professional to visit her home and guide her on how best to raise her baby girl -- she jumped at the opportunity. "Right away we started just reading to her," Duskin said. "They said that would help with her talking and communication." Did it ever. Duskin's daughter, Kalaya, just turned 3 and has been talking like a pro since she was 2. She knows her shapes and colors and already recognizes some words. Duskin, now 20, credits Every Child Succeeds for teaching her what her daughter needed...
The Groundwork Ohio staff is ready to vote this coming Tuesday... are you? If you haven't already, be sure to confirm your polling location and check out a sample ballot before voting on November 6th! With Ohio's upcoming gubernatorial election less than a week away, it's time to ramp up the pressure on candidates Richard Cordray and Mike DeWine to make sure they make early childhood education and health care top priorities if elected. We hope you'll use the sample tweets and resources in our Election Day Media Toolkit to help elevate these issues and make sure our next governor makes early education and healthcare a top priority--no matter who wins!
SAVE THE DATE
On May 8, 2019 early childhood stakeholders from across the state of Ohio will come together in Columbus to bring awareness to the importance of investments in early childhood education and communicate this important information to our legislators. We need your help to make sure the importance of early education issues rings loud and clear!
