Groundwork Ohio unveils Driving Change policy agenda for Ohio’s young children and families
Groundwork Ohio is proud to announce the release of Driving Change, a comprehensive policy roadmap shaped by insights from the 2024 Roadshow Listening Tour. This report encapsulates feedback from 13 diverse Ohio communities, gathering voices from parents, educators, health professionals and community leaders.
Groundwork Ohio's 2024-2026 Policy Agenda underscores the organization’s commitment to improving access to high-quality early learning, health care and economic stability for Ohio’s youngest residents and their families.
The Driving Change report is not just a roadmap; it's a call to action, aiming to mobilize resources and inspire change at both the local and state levels. By addressing disparities in early childhood education, maternal and young child health, economic stability, and child welfare, Groundwork Ohio is working to ensure that every child has the opportunity to thrive.
Key Policy Priorities:
1. Increase eligibility for Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) to at least 200 percent of the federal poverty level and increase access to full-time public preschool slots comparable to full-time PFCC subsidies to ensure young children are ready for kindergarten and working families are supported.
2. Improve payment practices that better support a child care program's ability to deliver quality learning, increase teacher pay by making progress towards paying the actual cost of quality care while not overburdening families. We recommend increasing PFCC rates to the 75th percentile of the 2024 Market Rate Survey for base rates as the next benchmark while maintaining tiered rates for providing higher levels of quality; paying programs based on enrollment of children versus attendance; and limit family copays to 7 percent of a family's income.
3. Invest in local infant mortality collaborative models in communities with high rates of infant mortality and racial disparities that require health systems, managed care plans, impacted communities and Black moms to co-create and implement a plan of action to reduce infant and maternal mortality.
4. Expand access to evidence-based home visiting programs (ex. Nurse Family Partnership, Healthy Families America, Parents as Teachers) including scaling Family Connects statewide, utilizing Medicaid to leverage access and impact, to support the healthy development of Ohio's youngest and reduce child abuse and neglect.
Groundwork Ohio encourages all Ohioans to join this movement for change. Through collaborative efforts, Groundwork Ohio and its partners are committed to ensuring every child in Ohio can grow up with a strong foundation for lifelong success.
For more information about the Driving Change report and Groundwork Ohio’s ongoing advocacy efforts, visit groundworkohio.org or contact Sara Loken at sloken@groundworkohio.org.
Access the report at https://www.groundworkohio.org/roadshow-recap.
Groundwork Ohio is a nonpartisan public-policy research and advocacy organization that champions high-quality early learning and healthy development strategies from the prenatal period to age 5, that lay a strong foundation for Ohio kids, families, and communities. We advance quality early childhood systems in Ohio by engaging, educating, and mobilizing diverse stakeholders and strategic partners to promote data driven and evidence-based early childhood policies.
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