The Cuyahoga County Environment & Education Committee on December 1 advanced a package of early-childhood and childcare contracts to the full council while presenters warned budget cuts are already reducing service capacity.

Resolutions advanced included: a sole-source, two-year contract with Child Care Resource Center of Cuyahoga County (doing business as Starting Point) for out-of-school-time services not to exceed $2,282,500 (Resolution 20250343); a two-year contract with Family Connections of Northeast Ohio for the Spark early-literacy home-visit program not to exceed $9,925,200 (Resolution 20250344); a one-year Starting Point contract for a special-needs childcare program not to exceed $1,657,730 (Resolution 20250345); and a one-year Starting Point contract for management of the Family Child Care Home Professional Development System not to exceed $1,095,106 (Resolution 20250346). Together these items amount to roughly $14.96 million in recommended county contracts.

Presenters and providers described program goals and evaluation plans. Kathleen Stewart (Deputy Director, Family & Children First Council) said Starting Point partners with 52 agency sites across 34 neighborhoods and reported the program served more than 2,400 children in the 2023 624 school year. Stewart and Starting Point representatives said the contract dates were extended to the end of calendar year 2027 to allow time for a pending RFP and vendor transition; staff said a future amendment could align the contract to a school-year calendar.

Program leaders said county budget reductions have already cut capacity. Trina Saxon (Spark director, Family Connections) said the county-funded portion of Spark would serve an estimated 217 children under the presented funding level, down from roughly 310 before cuts (a loss of about 93 county-funded slots). Beth Darmstatter (Executive Director, Family Connections) said a 10% county cut equates to losing roughly one parent-partner position and that some agencies have operated below full capacity because of staff departures and funding reductions.

Committee members pressed staff for comparative numbers and asked providers to return with apples-to-apples data. Staff said they would seek preliminary evaluation data from Case Western Reserve for January and expected to return with fuller numbers by mid-February.

The committee moved each contract out of committee with recommendation for second-reading suspension; motions passed by voice votes. Committee discussion emphasized the role of program evaluations, the need to preserve workforce capacity, and the interplay between county funding and other sources.

What's next: Each resolution proceeds to full council for subsequent readings; staff and providers will return with more detailed service and enrollment data in early 2026 so council members can assess the operational impacts of the funding changes.