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Child‑care providers press for peer‑review appeals and a worker‑childcare program in budget talks
Summary
Providers from the CEO Project and small centers urged senators to restore a peer‑review appeal process for licensing decisions and to add Senate Bill 177 (free childcare for child‑care workers) to the budget to address staff shortages and protect small providers.
Several child‑care owners and advocates testified that regulatory due process and worker supports are needed to prevent closures and expand capacity.
Why it matters: Providers said ambiguous licensing enforcement and lack of an appeal mechanism risk closure of small centers; they also argued that allowing child‑care workers to access free childcare for their own children (Senate Bill 177) would stabilize staffing and expand available slots.
Nafree Cook of the CEO Project asked the committee to “add the peer review process back into the budget,” saying the change would not add state spending but would provide licensees due process when sanctions or closures are proposed. “No one should lose their business due to the vagueness of rules, the ambiguity of rules, the difference in interpretation of rules,” she said.
Sandra Phillips, owner of Pitter Patter Learning Center, described SB 177 as “a win‑win for Ohio” that would allow child‑care workers to receive free care for their own children in exchange for work, while keeping the employee’s wages taxable. Phillips said the policy would strengthen staffing and create more classroom slots for families.
Tashianna Quachie, an owner with centers in Columbus and Dayton, said that many prospective employees are deciding not to accept jobs because they cannot afford care for their own children; she told senators that expanding eligibility and protecting peer appeal process would help centers recruit and open more classrooms.
No vote occurred at the hearing; witnesses asked the Senate to include peer review language and SB 177‑style supports in the omnibus amendment to House Bill 96.
