Business Innovation in Child Care Spotlight: COAD4kids

Groundwork Ohio, in partnership with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, has released a new resource, Business Innovation in Child Care: Case Studies Across Ohio, highlighting how businesses across the state are advancing child care solutions for their employees and communities. In the weeks ahead, we’ll be spotlighting these efforts—sharing real examples of how employers are stepping up to support working families and strengthen Ohio’s workforce and economy.

Access to affordable, reliable child care remains one of the biggest challenges facing working families and employers across rural Ohio. In southeastern Ohio, Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development initiative COAD4kids is helping communities and businesses work together to create solutions that expand child care access and support Ohio’s workforce.

COAD4kids, a child care resource and referral agency, works with 17 community action agencies across 31 southeastern Ohio counties to connect families with child care resources and help communities address local child care needs. Through partnerships with employers, local organizations, and state agencies, COAD4kids has played a key role in helping rural communities develop innovative child care solutions that support both families and businesses.

In 2021, COAD4kids received a three-year, $1.5 million federal grant through the Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities program to help increase child care access by supporting business partnerships across the region. While the grant funding expired in 2025, COAD4kids continues working alongside employers and community leaders to address the child care crisis in rural Ohio.

Most of COAD4kids’ funding comes from the Federal Child Care Development Block Grant through the Ohio Department of Children and Youth. Additional special project funding has come from the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the United Way of Greater Cincinnati.

Expanding Child Care Access Through Business Partnerships

COAD4kids has supported several innovative employer-supported child care initiatives across Adams, Gallia, and Ross counties.

As Ohio communities continue seeking solutions to strengthen the workforce and support young children, COAD4kids demonstrates how collaboration between employers, community organizations, and child care leaders can help expand access to quality child care in rural communities across the state.