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Child‑care providers ask Senate to fund peer review appeals and consider free care for child‑care workers
Summary
Multiple child‑care operators told the Senate Finance Committee that Ohio must add a peer review appeals process to licensing rules to prevent closures and that Senate Bill 177 (free childcare for child‑care workers) would help recruit and retain staff and expand capacity.
Child‑care owners and CEOs testified to the Senate Finance Committee urging support for two related items in the HB 96 deliberations: reinstating a peer review appeal process for licensing decisions and adopting Senate Bill 177, which would allow child‑care workers to receive free care for their own children in exchange for providing services.
Neferi (Nafree) Cook of the CEO Project said that without a peer review appeal mechanism “no business in Ohio should be subjected to the perils of losing your business because no due process exists.” She described licensing actions that can close centers over small violations and asked the committee to “add the peer review process back into the budget” to bring fairness and prevent unintentional shut‑downs. Cook said the peer review change “won't cost you nothing” and framed it as a means to keep existing community providers operating.
Nut graf: several operators also supported Senate Bill 177, a proposal to provide free childcare for child‑care workers as an employer‑assisted benefit to address worker shortages. Providers said many candidates decline employment because they cannot afford care for their own children; making worker child care free would expand staff availability and classroom capacity.
Sandra Phillips (Pitter Patter Learning Center) and Tashianna Quachie (owner of several centers) told senators that Senate Bill 177 would be “a game changer” and that in some programs up to 80% of staff need childcare for their own children. They argued the proposal is business‑friendly and would allow centers to open more rooms and lower costs by expanding workforce supply.
Ending: providers asked the committee to include licensing peer review protections and Senate Bill 177 provisions in the budget; testimony was part of HB 96 hearings and no committee decision on amendments was recorded at the hearing.
