COLUMBUS, Ohio — The child care industry in central Ohio is facing a critical challenge as centers struggle with a severe shortage of qualified teachers. This crisis is leaving many families without access to essential child care services and forcing centers to operate at reduced capacity.
Shaun Linton, who runs My Place Child Care Center in Newark, Ohio, describes the situation as "a struggle for many years." The shortage is particularly acute in Licking County, where finding qualified staff to fill open positions has become increasingly difficult.
This story is part of 10TV's "Boomtown" initiative — our commitment to covering every angle of central Ohio's rapid growth. This includes highlighting success stories, shining a light on growing pains and seeking solutions to issues in your everyday life.
Linton reports that his center could use 11 more teachers to meet the current demand. As a result, some rooms in his facility sit empty due to a lack of staff, while families face extended waiting periods for placement.
"If you have an infant, we've had children on a waiting list for close to a year," Linton explained.
The root of the problem lies in the wages offered to childcare teachers.
According to state figures, the average entry-level wage for a child care teacher in Ohio is $15 per hour. Linton notes, "The biggest challenge is to find teachers. It is the wages we can offer them," he said.
However, raising tuition to increase salaries is not a viable solution for many centers.
Linton reveals that his clients already pay $15,000 annually for one child. He estimates that a 20% increase in tuition would be necessary to reach an entry-level wage of $15 per hour, and a 35% to 40% increase would be required to provide a livable wage.
The situation is equally challenging for parents seeking childcare. Action for Children, an organization that helps parents find child care spots, reports that even their own employees struggle to afford child care.
"We have people who work for this organization that can't afford child care because it's more than their mortgage, and we're supposed to be helping people with those resources," said Alice Rackowski, a family engagement specialist who fields calls from parents looking for child care solutions.
To address this crisis, Action for Children is piloting a state-funded program to incentivize businesses to either set up their own child care centers or sponsor nearby classrooms. This initiative aims to increase child care availability and make it more accessible for working parents.
The scale of the problem is significant:
- 65% of child care programs are actively trying to find staff
"55% of childcare programs are operating at a monthly loss that means that the dollars that they are bringing in don't cover their expenses, " said Katherine Glenn-Applegate, director of child care and education initiatives at Action for Children.
Groundwork Ohio advocates for early childhood education. It tells 10TV that under the Childcare Access Grant, which is designed to increase the availability of licensed child care providers, 156 new center start-up grants have been awarded to expand child care programs. The state has also allocated $29.3 million to expand child care capacity and awarded grants to 342 programs in the first year which is expected to impact 5,000 toddlers.
While the state government, under Gov. Mike DeWine, has allocated tens of millions of dollars to incentivize child care center expansion and assist financially strapped parents, the core issue of attracting and retaining qualified teachers remains a major obstacle.
Two years ago, DeWine created the Department of Children and Youth. We asked to speak to the director but our invitation was declined.
In a statement to 10TV, the agency outlined how it's trying to address the problem, "One of the most impactful initiatives is the Child Care Choice Voucher Program, which is already providing financial support for thousands more Ohio children and their families. Ohio’s Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) program serves families earning up to 145% of the federal poverty level ($43,500 for a family of four). The new Child Care Choice Voucher Program provides financial support to families with parents who are working or attending school, who earn up to 200% of the federal poverty level ($60,000 for a family of four), so that more parents can access childcare while continuing to pursue their educational and career goals. Since the end of April 2024, this new program has already helped more than 4,000 children from over 2,700 families across Ohio. Additionally, earlier this year, Governor DeWine announced an $85 million Child Care Access Grant program to increase the availability of licensed childcare. This funding was made available to licensed child care programs with a proven track record of running a successful business to open more classrooms or entirely new programs."
From 2017 to 2022, the number of child care workers in Ohio dropped by 35.89%, with the biggest decrease of nearly 5,000 workers happening between 2019 and 2020.
DCY responded by saying, "Once again, the pandemic had a significant impact on the childcare workforce across the country and in Ohio. While there remains work to be done to reinvigorate the childcare workforce, it would be disingenuous to classify these ongoing efforts as a failure. With DCY’s increased investment in this area, we have started to see turnover rates stabilize, hitting a two-year low earlier this year. Additional efforts underway in Ohio to support the recruitment and retention of the child care workforce include:
- Increasing provider rates
- Providing free training and professional development
Offering mentoring and technical assistance"
One of the criticisms heard from child care operators has to do with reimbursement rates from the state. For infant center-based care, states like Kentucky reimburse providers in the 92nd percentile, West Virginia in the 80th, and Michigan in the 87th percentile. In comparison, New Mexico provides publicly funded childcare to families at 400% FPL, Utah at 276%, Georgia at 263%, and Tennessee at 250%. Ohio is below all of them.
The state responded by saying, "During SFY 24 and SFY 25, the state has increased provider rates multiple times. In July 2023, the reimbursement rates for programs participating in the PFCC program were increased to reflect the most recent market rate report. Then, in February 2024, and later in July 2024, the rates were increased again – climbing to the 50th percentile of the 2022 market rate survey."
As central Ohio's population continues to grow, finding affordable and available childcare is becoming increasingly challenging for families. The situation calls for innovative solutions and increased investment in early childhood education professionals to ensure that quality childcare remains accessible to all families.
If businesses are interested in partnering with childcare centers you can find more information here: https://www.actionforchildren.org/community/ccbp/ or https://childrenandyouth.ohio.gov/for-providers.