Clearance Details and Comments

CCN# : 8940 - 2024 Update to PFCC Provider Payment Rates to the 50th Percentile Date Sent for Review: 03/12/2024 Comment Deadline 03/26/2024 TRANSMITTAL(S)/COVERSHEET : CCMTL 2024 50th Percentile Rates    No Comment -- 3/12/2024 4:18 PM    If ratios are going to be a requirement to be reduced at the Gold level then the reward rates need to be increased to reimburse centers for the lost income due to eliminating childcare spots due to reduced ratios. -- (Internet) 3/12/2024 4:58 PM    These new payment standards is going to be detrimental to our budget. Not only are we going to have to let go some of our children to meet the lower ratio requirements but we also are going to suffer a loss in payment since we are moving from a 34% enhancement to a percentage in the 20's.It is regrettable that while highly rated centers would suffer a pay decrease when the 50th percentile is applied, centers without stars will see an increase in remuneration. That's akin to rewarding those who perform the bare minimum and penalizing those who go above and beyond the requirements of ODJFS license standards. The childcare industry has been financially struggling for some time, so when we learned that we will be pushed up to the 50th percentile in July 2024, we were all overjoyed. Our children deserve the best, therefore we calculated how to use these extra monies to pay our staff what they deserve and to modernize our classrooms. When we discovered that the new standards would ultimately result in a reduced payment, it was like a final kick in the face and left us childcare providers feeling like no one cares for the industry at all. Finally, I hope that a better solution can be implemented for gold-rated centers. Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day. -- (Internet) 3/12/2024 6:34 PM    So does the 50 % model not apply to all counties.? With this rate we are actually dropping pfcc rates. I don’t understand how we could drop in our rates. How are we supposed to be providing a competitive wage to staff. We won’t be able to keep staff on. This is not the support we need. How is it that the different counties rates can be so different? Not fair some of us actually lose funding. Hopefully I’m just misreading something. We are in Richland county moving to Gold tier -- (Internet) 3/12/2024 9:10 PM    Lowering ratios for a gold SUTQ rating will cause centers to potentially lose money. Example: Using a cluster 3, full time, full capacity with double ratio: For gold, Infants would be calculated at 10 available slots x 52 weeks x 368.75 = 191750. For silver, infants would be calculated at 12 available slots x 52 weeks x 339.25 = 211692. This would result in a loss of potential income of $19942 for the year in an infant room at maximum capacity. This same pattern is in all age groups with the exception of 48+ month preschool room. Loss of $15158 for young toddlers; loss of $12402 for older toddlers; loss of $1206.40 for young preschool; gain of $3619.20 for older preschool; loss of $7980 for school age during school (using 38 weeks); loss of $4092.28 for school age summer (using 14 weeks). Please reconsider making it mandatory for lower ratios to achieve a gold rating. If a lower ratio is necessary, please consider raising the payment amount for a gold rating to compensate for the loss of spots. Mandating lower ratios for gold ratings is also working against the goal of trying to get more spaces for children in high quality centers. In addition, the centers that got the infant/toddler grant will not be able to meet their requirement of adding spaces if the ratios get lowered. -- (Internet) 3/12/2024 11:51 PM    As a type b provider, these new rates are certainly lowering our income. Prior to when we received the 35% raise we were told when all this was complete by July our pay would not decrease due to these changes. As an example, I am a 5 star, in January for a preschooler I was paid 197.26; now under this new rate under the gold plan I will get paid 193.25. Each catergoray there is a decrease with infants being the largest decrease. This all adds up for us quickly. As a type b, we depend on every dollar to cover expenses. Please consider making it at least equal to what we would have brought in prior to these changes?? I'm not asking for more- just not lowered. Thank you for taking the time to read this. -- (Internet) 3/13/2024 6:02 AM    Regarding rate determination. Please stop hurting our paying clients by making their rates go up so we can get the additional increase. These are the people who are working so hard in our communities. Please also clarify your policies regarding giving these people discounts so that they can afford to live. For example, the state hold our money for at least 7-10 days - sometimes for longer periods of time. Our private clients are mandated to pay weekly. If we are giving them discounts for paying in a timely manner (which the state cannot do) what is the exact rule related to that? I have spoken to many Administrators who have the same question. Do you realize that you will be forcing centers to turn away paying clients? The state should pay more than the private clients. Unless you can pay us in a timely manner - the fee fee for private clients should not match your fees. Please consider clarifying this policy and helping those parents who have worked hard all their lives. You are hurting out middle class. Lastly, childcare centers should be treated the same as head start. We are caring for these children in most cases longer than the kids are at home. We should be paid by enrollment and not have to do sign in/sign out. After 36 years, I am so very frustrated with the way we are treated. It is as if we are not respected. Maybe with COVID the state finally realized the significance of childcare centers. People cannot work without childcare. So why should head start be paid fully based on enrollment and us (lowly childcare centers) be pinched for every single penny? We should be treated as professionals just like you pay head start. -- (Internet) 3/13/2024 10:40 AM    Hello, I am not sure what I am supposed to comment in here but I'm hoping this reaches the right hands. I am currently enrolled in a daycare and the rates have gone up from 130 a week to 142 a week This is adding an additional $48 per month I am having to pay totalling $568 per month I am paying for daycare. If these rates increase this is going to make it impossible for me to continue to work as I am not going to be able to cover my bills with the amount I am paying in child care cost. I hope that you consider the amount self pay people are paying for daycare as this is hindering abilities to pay other living costs and groceries for families. -- (Internet) 3/13/2024 12:54 PM    I am extremely bothered at the fact that the award percentage is decreasing from 39% to 25%. By using the provider's customary rate over the base rate, my center will be losing a great deal of funds. We worked extremely hard to earn the 5 star rating and now we feel that it is all for nothing. I believe it is only fair to use the base rate for centers who have rates lower than the base rates. This gives us time to raise our rates gradually allowing parents to have time to adjust to the increases. I have numerous families who are right above the poverty line making them ineligible for tuition assistance. These families already struggle affording child care as it is. If I have to increase my rates such a drastic amount, they will not be able to afford child care at all. What about those children? Aren't they just as important? If I do not increase my rates then I will either have to let staff go, give them a cut in pay, and/or possibly shut down eventually. So many centers are closing in my area. Please do not cause me to do so as well. All I am asking is that you provide everyone with the base rate rather than using the customary rate when that rate is lower than the base rate. -- (Internet) 3/13/2024 6:36 PM    First and foremost, I would like to say thank you for the base pay rates increase. With that being said, I would like to say that I feel that the drop from 35% to 25% for a highly rated program is letting us know that we aren’t as valued as a highly rated program as we have been in the past. Being a highly rated program is a lot of extra work for us and I feel that we should be compensated for all the extra things we are required to do to maintain that rating. I can provide the same level of childcare, including screenings, assessments, referrals, etc., without all the added mounds of paperwork. Not to mention all of the extra time that it takes to do everything that goes into being a highly rated SUTQ program. As a family childcare provider, we have to do the majority of the paperwork after children leave so we are putting in a lot of extra hours that we are not getting paid for. The 25% is just not enough for all the added time and responsibilities and I will be reconsidering keeping my SUTQ rating. I will always continue to ask that the ratio for family childcare be increased from 1:6 to at least 1:10. Centers are permitted to have a much higher ratio and I hope this is taken into consideration as well is our pay rates being based on enrollment instead of attendance. Thank you! -- (Internet) 3/15/2024 2:29 PM    PLEASE make this make sense to me!! I have been on several of the online meetings and have repeatedly heard it be said that we are NOT losing money???? We are! Please do the math. Well, some of us are. I am a Type A 5 star rated program. When these changes take place, I will lose approximately $30 a week. While YOU MAY THINK that this is not much, it is a slap in the face. 1&2 stars will see an increase. 3 stars will see an increase. As a 5 star rated program, I spend many hours doing paperwork, planning curriculum, and doing assessments. I spend a lot of money printing activities, printing assessments and making copies for parents, and buying needed supplies for my curriculum. It's simply not fair that lower rated programs will see an increase in their pay while those of us doing more work will see a decrease. -- (Internet) 3/18/2024 2:26 PM    By capping payments at the private pay rates set by centers, you are creating a system where centers will raise their rates in order to meet the rate set by the state. Although we are in a county with higher rates, our program tries to keep payments low for parents. This takes away the incentive to accept PFCC families as there is no benefit to the center. PFCC families have a higher turnover rate. Additionally, this reduces the incentive to participate in the SUTQ program. -- (Internet) 3/18/2024 3:37 PM    I don’t understand why the state would give an increase in February then take it away in July. You increased the base rate however only giving the 5 Star centers 25% decreases our rate that we received in February. This does not make sense to me. -- (Internet) 3/20/2024 1:11 PM    the pay rates between fcc type a n type b need to be a lil closer with pays no we dnt have an employee and type b r only allowed 6 kids but type b does the same exact work as type a minus 3 papers you all make us complete a CKC forms even tho its geared for centers which is stupid cause we do not do what centers does please bring the pay scales closer then they are between types a n b -- (Internet) 3/20/2024 4:05 PM    As a Head Start grantee that has partnered with center-base and family child-care providers for Head Start and Early Head Start services for over 20 years, I'm concerned that the allowable ratios may dissuade some of our exiting partners from continuing with our contract. By maxing out the preschool ratio to 26 and securing a full-time rate, partners could exceed a monthly net exceeding what we can reimburse. Same could be stated regarding the Infant and Toddler ratios where Head Start requires a 2:8 ratio. The full-time, part-time and hourly rates are especially significant as partners currently must back out 3.5 Head Start hours and 6 Early Head Start hours before any subsidy is applied. I'm convinced that partnerships benefit children and families in a much deeper way than partners could reach without the resources. -- (Internet) 3/22/2024 3:54 PM    I am in favor of the 50 percentile increase and would like to see it meet the 75 percentile requirement in the next year. -- (Internet) 3/24/2024 10:00 PM    We are glad to see the base rate move to the 50th percentile-thank you for making that happen. 1. It would be more sustainable for providers if payments were based on enrollment instead of attendance. 2. The payment rate for accredited providers should be at the Gold level of 25%; minimally at the 15% Silver level. Accreditation standards are more rigorous than SUTQ. 3. Programs should not be making less in this new configuration. A 5 star center moving to Gold in category 3 will lose money on infants and preschool children. Many programs already lose money by accepting children on subsidy. Having a higher reimbursement rate makes participation in PFCC more attractive. Quality costs money. -- (Internet) 3/25/2024 12:30 PM    The new increase to the 50th percentile of the base rate with a 25% increase for gold level centers will be detrimental to my center. We used the Stabilization Grant money to award permanent raises to our staff and now need increases in PFCC funding to maintain salaries. We were promised that increases were coming, not cuts to current funding levels. The additional money will be used to fund the change from 35th percentile to 50th percentile, and reducing SUTQ incentives, instead of funding more families or funding current families at higher levels. We will be faced with a budget deficit this year without a funding increase. We applied for the recent infant/toddler expansion grant, but due to malfunctions in the application, while I was completing it, we were denied. The application skipped over the budget and signature sections when I clicked on next and I received a message of Thank you for your submission. Many other centers in Mahoning and Stark counties who needed these funds had similar issues and were also denied. There was at least one center that closed because they were not eligible for the grant. This further illustrates that current funding levels are not sufficient. -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 11:34 AM    As a star 5 provider I dont think we should lose money when everyone else is getting more during this transition. -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 12:03 PM    As a star 5 provider I dont think we should lose money when everyone else is getting more during this transition. I have worked hard to maintain my star 5 and you are rewarding me by cutting my income Also why do type A get so much more than type B when we are in same category. We do just as much to maintain our high rated centers. Please take this comments and help us have a better outcome for the transition. I feel I am being punished because I want a smaller ratio and creating an excellent center for children to grow and thrive in their environment. Thank you Ronni Steinbeck -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 12:07 PM    I'm Zandra Phillips, a Childcare Center, based in Montgomery, Ohio. I'm expressing my concern regarding the proposed changes to the Step Up to Quality childcare programs by the new department. It's disheartening to note that despite federal government funding, many individuals stand to incur financial losses or witness no improvement at all. It's crucial that we boost funding for reimbursement rates to ensure the sustainability of high-quality services provided by essential childcare providers for the well-being of Ohio's children and their families. Family Childcare (FCC) providers and childcare centers play pivotal roles in their communities, yet we are once again being tasked with providing more while receiving less in return. -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 12:53 PM    It saddens me to see the reduction that I will see with the rates changing. I worked VERY HARD to obtain/maintain my 5 star rating to give quality childcare to the families I serve. Now to not get paid my worth is so upsetting. The state wants families to experience quality but don’t want to pay providers for their hard earned work!! It may seem like a small reduction to you all but over a years time I will loose alot of money. Please reconsider the pay rates. Thank you! -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 12:53 PM    Against a rule that will decrease funding for child care providers The federal government — which provides three of every four dollars in Ohio’s public child care system — has recognized that providers need more resources and is mandating that all states increase base reimbursement rates to at least the 50th percentile. Following thousands of child care program closures since the COVID pandemic, this mandate was intended to stabilize the child care sector. Due to the tight margins and difficult economic circumstances that providers have faced for many years, providers need this money to stay open. Rather than increasing funding to make this change, Ohio lawmakers are leaving the Department of Children and Youth (DCY) to shift around the same too-small pool of money instead of directing state revenue to fill the gap. The proposed rule changes decrease Step Up to Quality (SUTQ) enhancement rates for all current 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-star programs. As a result, many of Ohio’s Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) providers will see cuts to reimbursement rates. In short, federal changes intended to help providers make ends meet, advance services, and provide reasonable pay for workers are being manipulated to short-change providers and ultimately harm PFCC families and children. By stripping these SUTQ dollars from providers who have invested years of time and material resources to earn them, Ohio has created a cynical plan to meet the letter of the new federal mandate, but not its intent. The point is that child care providers need more money. Under Ohio’s scheme, many will end up with less. If these changes are implemented, early childhood educators, parents and kids will be the ones left to deal with the consequences. Programs will close. Child care workers will walk away from careers the state has said are among its core workforce development priorities to work in retail stores and fast-food restaurants instead. Children will be left at home alone. More parents will grapple with the impossible choice of accepting a job with no safe place to leave their kids and foregoing one when it means no money to pay the rent. This is the crisis the federal government intended to quell when — along with the more than $800 million it sends to Ohio to bolster child care each year — it laid out the mandate that child care providers be reimbursed at the 50th percentile rate so they would get more money, not less. Ohio legislators must add funding to DCY’s budget to fund the base rate mandate while leaving Step Up to Quality tiers and reimbursements intact. -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 12:53 PM    Rate Clearance: Can you please clarify why the rates for Star 5 providers will be decreasing when we move to the new 50th percentile in most of the age groups and categories across the state? Some providers are losing amounts like $14.00 per child per week. Also, can you clarify why type A centers are paid almost double than Type B Providers when we are licensed under the same rules??? Yes, they have to have an employee when providing care over 6 children, but they are paid for each child, so it shouldn't matter. Some home providers work all three shifts and have more children on their roster than some type A's but make less per child. We still have to pay our utilities, purchase food for the children and supplies, etc. We also have to pay our substitutes for back up care so we can maintain our responsibilities with administrative duties. So there for our pay rate should be more equal. I also strongly feel that in the past and now type B"s have been discriminated against about the pay rate and licensing. All families deserve equal care! -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 1:30 PM    Hello, The changes that are being made for step up to quality and the 50th percentile rates seems to not make a big difference in the the model we have no with step up to quality and the 35 percentile rates. As I review the new model that's suppose to take place on 7-7-24, I would be a silver with additional 15% on top of the base rate which is $200 plus the 15% that means I would receive $230 for a infant with the new model, with the model that we currently have I receive $228 for a infant that means Im only receiving $2 more with the new model at the 50th percentile rates. My question is how are we as providers receiving a 50th percentile rates and only receiving $2 more than what we are at now with the 35th percentile? For reference Im a Type B provider with 3 stars Thank you! Lateaia Watson -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 1:43 PM    Hello, The changes that are being made for step up to quality and the 50th percentile rates seems to not make a big difference in the the model we have no with step up to quality and the 35 percentile rates. As I review the new model that's suppose to take place on 7-7-24, I would be a silver with additional 15% on top of the base rate which is $200 plus the 15% that means I would receive $230 for a infant with the new model, with the model that we currently have I receive $228 for a infant that means Im only receiving $2 more with the new model at the 50th percentile rates. My question is how are we as providers receiving a 50th percentile rates and only receiving $2 more than what we are at now with the 35th percentile? For reference Im a Type B provider with 3 stars Thank you! Lateaia Watson -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 1:45 PM    I am writing in strong opposition to the changes to reimbursement rates under this proposed rule in combination with the new rating system. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis in cost of care to families and unsustainable poor rates of pay has only gotten worse. All over the state there are already not enough spots for children, and our most vulnerable- infants and toddlers- are especially impacted. The centers that have managed to stay open would no longer be able to. As a single parent, I have struggled to find care, especially affordable care, for my child. Loss of care during the pandemic forced me to be unable to work. It's already hard enough for providers to attract and keep staff, when they can't compete with McDonald's in terms of wages. The state needs to increase the pool of funding so that there is not a loss in wages and all children are able to receive quality care, their parents can work, and no child is in poverty. Thank you -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 2:06 PM    Directors Wente and Damschroder, On behalf of YWCA Columbus, we are submitting comments on draft rule 8850 regarding the new rating model for the Step Up to Quality Rating and Improvement System in Chapter 5101:2-17 of the Ohio Administrative Code for the five-year review and draft rule 8940 regarding the 2024 update to PFCC provider payment rates to the 50th percentile. YWCA Columbus has served the central Ohio region for over 100 years, and our mission of eliminating racism, empowering women, and bringing peace, justice, freedom, and dignity to all guides our work from serving the unhoused to promoting youth development. In 2023, across 23 sites, YWCA provided care for 1,613 children through our youth development programs. For over 30 years, we’ve served over 20,000 students in our high-quality after-school programs. These programs are all Step Up to Quality star-rated and a portion of the families we serve receive PFCC. Additionally, our emergency shelter for families operates a 5-star Step Up to Quality childcare program, available to parents so they can accomplish their employment and housing goals. Nearly 90% of the families served in our shelter receive PFCC. Ohio’s reimbursement rates are so low – the lowest of any state – that the federal government mandated they be raised to the 50th percentile by the end of 2024, leading to these proposed changes. The most current rates reflect costs at the 35th percentile. Reimbursing at the 75th percentile is the federal benchmark for equal access. At a time when costs are rising and the childcare crisis is destabilizing families (Ohio is also among the lowest access points in childcare eligibility), these proposed rules will only strain our budget and operations. At YWCA Columbus, we have committed to achieving a 3-star rating for all our childcare sites. We are just four sites away from achieving that goal. We also increased the wage floor for our frontline childcare staff to $17/hour for part-time and $20/hour for full-time employees, ensuring their wages are dignified, competitive, and honor the critical support they provide our communities. We are committed to quality at every level because it’s the right thing to do for the families and children we serve. While we remain committed to high standards, we know that the new reimbursement rates will take a toll on other areas of our operations that provide critical support for families in our community. We do not intend to reduce the number or quality of our programs because of this change, but many other providers do not have the flexibility to have their rates fluctuate or lowered – further reducing the number of childcare providers available to families, especially those receiving PFCC. Childcare providers are more critical than ever to the economy – we should make changes to allow us to increase the quality of our care, keep our workers, and serve more people. Instead of these rules, ODJFS and DCY should advocate for an increase in funding to support the new 50% reimbursement rate. YWCA Columbus urges the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the Ohio Department of Youth and Families to not adopt the new quality rating model for SUTQ and reimbursement rates proposed in rules 8850 and 8940. If allowed to go into effect as written, these proposed rules would harm the most marginalized children and families in our communities – those we serve directly – and strain our already overburdened childcare infrastructure. Sincerely, Tanya Salyers Director of Advocacy YWCA Columbus -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 4:22 PM    Type A and Type B FCC should receive the same payment rates as they provide the same services in their homes. -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 4:46 PM    Why are we getting less for requiring less students. This will affect our place in the program's higher quality. Lower ratios are important but you cannot reasonably say lets lower ratios and then we are cutting your funding by 10%. That does not make sense -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 5:04 PM    Ohio Department of Children and Youth Re: Rule Changes 8850, 8940 Thank you for the opportunity to share my perspective. Rule 8850, new Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) tiers is not the appropriate or necessary change needed at this time because it does not address what is most needed in the Early Education Sector. What is most needed in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) space are solutions and resources to address the workforce crisis. The best intentions and changes to SUTQ cannot be properly implemented without an adequate workforce. Before the onset of the pandemic, the need for qualify staff was the number one factor hindering ECE. Covid exasperated this to a crisis level, debilitating the field of ECE. The current SUTQ guidelines cannot be implementation because we don't have adequate staff. Creating new guidelines does not address the needs of the field. We must have adequate qualified staff in order to deliver the services needed to best serve children and families. As a grassroots contributor to SUTQ. I made the commitment to lower student enrollment, staff ratios and everything necessary to implement SUTQ. It was a struggle for my medium center, but I am committed to quality care. I struggled to find and maintain qualified staff. When the pandemic hit I did everything necessary to maintain the staff I had at that time. I used Payroll Protection Program (PPP) resources to pay and maintain my staff and they committed to stay, however, when the governor reopened the centers the staff did not return. I was stripped of my quality rating without any consideration to the years of hard work I had given to quality. It has taken me years to recently recruit two individuals who want to pursue a career in ECE. This highlights the number two deterrent to our success, which is adequate reimbursement and addresses Rule change 8940, percentile and reimbursement changes. Ohio already provides the lowest reimbursement of any state. This rule change further exasperates our ability to sustain our centers and implement SUTQ. Without adequate reimbursement, centers cannot afford to pay sustainable wages. This translates to our inability to attract and retain career oriented personnel. We simply need the proper funding, based on cost of care. Finally, we need true collaboration and equity from the state. This includes inclusion of center directors that do the work when determining changes in all aspects of our field. We do the work, and my twenty- five years of experience operating a star-rated center qualifies me to add valuable contributions to necessary changes. A commitment to true transparent funding and equity in distributing those funds must happen in order to provide quality care to children and families, while maintaining our centers and sustainable employment of quality staff. Kathleen Lamb Tyler In GOD'S Hands Christian Youth Center 3808 Zinsle Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45213 -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 5:51 PM    I think the new rating system is not fair at all to the five star providers.We are five star but will be getting a four star pay now I don't see where this is fair to us at all. -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 7:33 PM    This new 50th percentile is a big disappointment, I worked extremely hard to become 5 star rated just to not get paid fairly. To see that I will get paid only a 4 star pay or smaller is very disappointing it feels as if I’m getting punished for having a high quality program. Let’s be fair and pay us what we deserve! -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 9:16 PM    As a type A home provider of 1o years, I know that decreasing the incentives for the Star Rating System will cause a financial hardship for providers. Therefore, I ask that you rethink the incentive amounts. I can understand giving the Quality Rating System a face lift, but please consider the providers that will have to work harder and receive less pay. Do you really believe that Ohio's Child care system deserves to take such a dramatic hit at this time? At a time where providers are begging, pleading, and down right leaving nor going into this industry. I have stated multiple of times to increase our license capacity for family child care providers. This can give us more income so that we can pay our staff a livable wage. We have worked so hard to achieve Highly Qualified Programs to only have it taken away. Ohio is showing the rest of the world that Early childhood education is not important to their Administration. What we are asking is quite simple: Pay child care providers at the 75th percentile by December 31, 2024. Shortly thereafter, child care providers are paid at 100% by July 1, 2025. We deserve to be paid at the true cost of care. Ohio's Children deserves to receive true quality child care. Ohio please stop putting Early Childhood Education last in the decision making. Let's start having providers at the table during decision making! Thank you for taking time out and I Pray that you will take some if not all of my strong recommendations. -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 9:37 PM    Hi, my name is elsa e munoz and I am a Type A provider in Mahoning county. I am upset with the changes to the Step Up to Quality child care programs proposed by the new department. Many will lose money or see no increase at all, even with the federal government funding. my opinion we are getting finally the 50% now compare from different state that including Puerto Rico that is 100% is a big different in my opinion the department need to see statistic from every state in rates percent that they are now. so we are the Lowes please don't take away our money we have wait for this and work hard to see the 50% rate . -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 9:51 PM    No Comment -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 9:58 PM    My name is Rochelle Bankhead I've been a child are owner for 25 years. Not paying us the 75% for 6 years. Also when the out of complaints we should be paid asap. Is is affecting our business. Are business are struggling. -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 10:16 PM    I Tamara Lunan at the Ohio Organizing Collaborative's CEO Project along with the 300 providers we represent stand vehemently against the proposed rule that will decrease funding for childcare providers Ohio. The federal government — which provides three of every four dollars in Ohio’s public child care system — has recognized that providers need more resources and is mandating that all states increase base reimbursement rates to at least the 50th percentile. Following thousands of childcare program closures since the COVID pandemic, this mandate was intended to stabilize the childcare sector. Due to the tight margins and difficult economic circumstances that providers have faced for many years, providers need this money to stay open. Rather than increasing funding to make this change, Ohio lawmakers are leaving the Department of Children and Youth (DCY) to shift around the same too-small pool of money instead of directing state revenue to fill the gap. The proposed rule changes decrease Step Up to Quality (SUTQ) enhancement rates for all current 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-star programs. As a result, many of Ohio’s Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) providers will see cuts to reimbursement rates. In short, federal changes intended to help providers make ends meet, advance services, and provide reasonable pay for workers are being manipulated to short-change providers and ultimately harm PFCC families and children. By stripping these SUTQ dollars from providers who have invested years of time and material resources to earn them, Ohio has created a cynical plan to meet the letter of the new federal mandate, but not its intent. The point is that childcare providers need more money. Under Ohio’s scheme, many will end up with less and some will be forced to closedown or operate at less than capacity. If these changes are implemented, early childhood educators, parents and kids will be the ones left to deal with the consequences. Programs will close. Child care workers will walk away from careers the state has said are among its core workforce development priorities to work in retail stores and fast-food restaurants instead. Children will be left at home alone. More parents will grapple with the impossible choice of accepting a job with no safe place to leave their kids and foregoing one when it means no money to pay the rent. This is the crisis the federal government intended to quell when — along with the more than $800 million it sends to Ohio to bolster child care each year — it laid out the mandate that child care providers be reimbursed at the 50th percentile rate so they would get more money, not less. Ohio legislators must add funding to DCY’s budget to fund the base rate mandate while leaving Step Up to Quality tiers and reimbursements intact. -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 10:27 PM    Urgent Concerns Regarding Payment Structure and Quality Rating System I am writing to urgently address the concerning implications of the proposed payment structure changes, particularly concerning the proposed decrease in reimbursement payments and the recent rearrangement of the quality rating system. Having dedicated over 25 years to the role of a family childcare educator, I've witnessed firsthand the vital importance of sustainable payments in upholding the quality of care we provide to our children. It is disheartening to note that since 2010, we experienced a significant payment decrease, with no corresponding increase until the introduction of the five star quality rating system. Now, some 14 years later, we find ourselves facing yet another potential decrease in payments due to the rearrangement of the quality rating system. As a five-star-rated program, achieving and maintaining excellence in childcare, this decrease in funded incentives directly contradicts the fundamental principles of quality recognition. It is disconcerting to perceive a system wherein highly rated programs like ours are inadvertently disincentivized through financial reductions. Moreover, transitioning to a Gold Silver Bronze system should not be synonymous with a decrease in reimbursement payments. Quality should not be compromised by financial constraints; instead, it should be supported and incentivized through sustainable funding models. I urge for a thorough reconsideration of these proposed changes. Sustainable payments are not only essential for ensuring the well-being and development of the children in our care but are also vital for supporting the dedicated educators who contribute tirelessly to their growth and learning. Thank you for the opportunity to express my concerns. I am hopeful for constructive dialogue and collaborative efforts to preserve the integrity of our childcare system. -- (Internet) 3/26/2024 11:53 PM    Attention To All Members Of The Federal Office Comment On: 8940: 50th Percentile Mrs. Kisha Johnson with The CEO Project , I am a child-care business owner and, I am a Early Childhood Educator, In-Home FCC (Family Child- Care) Provider and has been for the past twenty-six years. My In-Home Center is currently a 5 Star Tier Rated Program in t h e State Of Ohio, and we are currently on our programs second term of being 5Star Rated. 8940 Topic 1: Sets the base reimbursement rate at the 50th percentile as required by the federal government. Under Rule: 5101:2-16-10 Payment rate and procedures for providers and publicly funded child-care services. (A) -(1) Payment Rates / Market Rate Survey (A) - (2) Payment rates shall apply to all providers of publicly funded child-care. Comment: Per the Market Rate Survey's completed in this past July of 2023, and per the data analysis from the survey's, all child-care educators and providers should be paid at the 75% percentile rate and NOT just trying to reach the 50% percentile. The question is when will we reach the 75% because until we reach 75% we are still being under paid and under valued for the work we perform on a daily. Al educators and child-care providers are currently still being paid at the 25% percentile for the work we all do , which is not enough for my programs doors to stay open. We should have received the new payment rate increase back in 2019, and it's now 2024 and we have only reached the 25% percentile within past six years since we were due to receive this increase and child-care in currently in a state of urgency, programs are closing their doors due to not receiving proper funding in order to maintain their businesses and/or very own my business. All providers should be paid at the same exact rates across the board for all child-care program sectors, such as all centers, Type A & Type B child-care programs, because we all perform and are required to perform the same child-care duties and to adhere to all of the same rules and regulations for child-care. By paying all of your child-care programs /stakeholders at the same reimbursement rates across all counties this will help show unity for all child-care programs and will help to also solidify the work that all of us as educators perform at the same level and that all of our work in this field is fair and meaningful at the end of the day no matter what program type you are. Thank you for your time. -- (Internet) 3/27/2024 6:58 AM