hb1028_00

As Introduced

136th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 1028

2025-2026

To enact sections 5181.01, 5181.02, 5181.03, 5181.04, 5181.05, 5181.06, 5181.07, and 5181.08 of the Revised Code to enact the Early Childhood Opportunity and Enrollment Act.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 5181.01, 5181.02, 5181.03, 5181.04, 5181.05, 5181.06, 5181.07, and 5181.08 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 5181.01. As used in this section:

(A) "Department" means any of the following:

(1) A department as defined in section 121.01 of the Revised Code;

(2) A county department of job and family services as described in section 329.01 of the Revised Code;

(3) Any authority, board, bureau, commission, department, division, entity, or other instrumentality of a county, city, health district, school district, village, or township;

(4) Any private agency, entity, or organization operating a head start program, as defined in section 5104.01 of the Revised Code, or providing services as described in divisions (B)(11) and (12) of this section.

(B) "Public assistance" means any financial assistance, medical assistance, or social services that are provided under a program administered by a department. "Public assistance" includes any of the following:

(1) The supplemental nutrition assistance program as administered under section 5101.54 of the Revised Code;

(2) The early childhood education grant program established under section 5104.53 of the Revised Code;

(3) The child care cred program established under section 5104.54 of the Revised Code;

(4) Publicly funded child care administered under section 5104.30 of the Revised Code;

(5) The head start program as defined in section 5104.01 of the Revised Code;

(6) The Ohio works first program established under section 5107.03 of the Revised Code;

(7) The prevention, retention, and contingency program, as established in section 5108.02 of the Revised Code;

(8) The medicaid program;

(9) The help me grow program established under section 5180.21 of the Revised Code;

(10) The part C early intervention services program administered by the department of children and youth pursuant to section 5180.30 of the Revised Code;

(11) Funding made available and services provided under part B of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act," 20 U.S.C. 1411 to 1419;

(12) Funding made available and services provided under the federal maternal, infant, early childhood home visiting program, 42 U.S.C. 711.

Sec. 5181.02. (A) As soon as practicable after an application for public assistance is submitted, the department responsible for administering the public assistance program shall contact the applicant to determine if the applicant is the parent or guardian of a child who is five years of age or less. If the applicant indicates to the department that the applicant is such a parent or guardian, the department shall provide to the parent or guardian an early childhood opportunity orientation.

(B) During the early childhood opportunity orientation, the department shall inform the parent or guardian about other public assistance programs relating to early childhood for which the child or child's family may be eligible, including by explaining the other program's eligibility conditions and benefits. The orientation shall not be limited to providing the parent or guardian only with a list of public assistance programs, web site addresses, or telephone numbers. Rather, to the extent permitted by federal law and with the parent's or guardian's permission and notwithstanding any conflicting provision of the Revised Code, the department also shall assist the parent or guardian in directly contacting other departments responsible for administering public assistance programs relating to early childhood and shall use any information included in the application submitted under this section to directly assist the parent or guardian in completing or submitting an application for public assistance relating to early childhood.

(C) This section does not authorize a department that is not responsible for administering a public assistance program to determine if a child or child's family is eligible to participate in the public assistance program.

Sec. 5181.03. (A) To the extent permitted by federal law and notwithstanding any conflicting provision of the Revised Code, a department shall recognize participation in any public assistance program as evidence of categorical or potential eligibility for another public assistance program relating to early childhood. Such a department shall notify a parent or guardian that the child or child's family may qualify for one or more other public assistance programs relating to early childhood. The department shall, as soon as practicable after identifying programs and notifying the parent or guardian, assist the parent or guardian in applying for the one or more other programs, but only with the parent's or guardian's permission.

(B)(1) This section does not require a child or child's family to participate in any public assistance program, including one relating to early childhood.

(2) Participation in any public assistance program relating to early childhood is subject to availability.

(3) Declining to participate in a public assistance program relating to early childhood does not affect eligibility for any other public assistance program.

(4) This section does not compel any child or child's family to participate in any preschool program or receive child care from a child care provider.

Sec. 5181.04. (A) To the extent permitted by federal law and notwithstanding any conflicting provision of the Revised Code, the department of children and youth, in coordination with other departments that the department of children and youth considers appropriate, shall designate or establish a single statewide portal focused on early childhood, which shall be known as the Ohio early childhood education portal. The aim of the portal is to limit the number of instances in which a parent or guardian must provide basic details regarding the child, family, and household to multiple departments when applying for or seeking information about public assistance.

(B) The portal shall allow a parent or guardian to enter basic details regarding the child, family, and household into the portal once and receive from the portal, as soon as practicable after the details have been entered, information identifying programs relating to early childhood in which the child or child's family may be eligible to participate as of the date the details were entered.

(C) The portal shall screen for potential eligibility for public assistance, in particular the public assistance described in divisions (B)(2), (3), (4), (5), (9), (10), (11), and (12) of section 5181.01 of the Revised Code.

(D)(1) The portal shall not make final eligibility determinations unless otherwise authorized by law.

(2) To the extent permitted by federal law and notwithstanding any conflicting provision of the Revised Code, the portal shall do all of the following but only on the permission of the parent or guardian of a child:

(a) Identify programs for which the child or child's family may be eligible;

(b) Provide an explanation to the parent or guardian why the child or child's family may qualify;

(d) Permit information already provided to the state to prepopulate applications when legally permissible;

(e) Provide a direct electronic pathway to apply;

(f) Transfer by electronic means information to the appropriate administering department;

(g) Identify participating providers or local entities through which services may be obtained;

(3) The portal shall permit a parent or guardian to decline further contact through the portal and to decline enrollment in any of the early childhood programs identified by the portal.

Sec. 5181.05. The department of children and youth shall enter into partnerships with entities that regularly interact with families with young children and also seek to serve as Ohio early childhood education portal navigators. An entity serving as a navigator shall assist families with the Ohio early childhood education portal established under section 5181.04 of the Revised Code. Such an entity may include a child care provider, community organization, county department of job and family services, educational service center, head start agency, pediatric health care provider, public library, school district, and other entity the department considers appropriate.

Sec. 5181.06. (A) To the extent permitted by federal law and notwithstanding any conflicting provision of the Revised Code, each department shall routinely use any administrative data that the department maintains to identify children, families, and households who may be eligible for any public assistance relating to early childhood.

If a child, family, or household is identified under this section, then as soon as practicable after identification, the department shall notify the child's parent or guardian, family, or household of the public assistance program for which the child, family, or household may be eligible and, with the parent's or guardian's permission, provide the parent, guardian, family, or household with a direct method by which an application for public assistance relating to early childhood may be submitted.

(B) Each department shall give special consideration to creating an automatic notification system whereby, when a child approaches the age at which the child is considered to be a preschool-age child, the department is capable of doing both of the following, but only to the extent permitted by federal law and notwithstanding any conflicting provision of the Revised Code:

(1) Notifying the child's parent, guardian, family, or household that the child or child's family may be eligible for certain public assistance once the child is a preschool-age child;

(2) With the child's parent's or guardian's permission, providing the parent or guardian with an opportunity as soon as practicable to apply for the public assistance program.

As used in this division, "preschool-age child" has the same meaning as in section 5104.01 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 5181.07. (A) Not later than the thirty-first day of December of each year, the department of children and youth shall prepare and submit to the general assembly an early childhood participation report. The report shall be submitted in accordance with section 101.68 of the Revised Code.

(B) The report shall include for each public assistance program relating to early childhood, including as described in divisions (B)(2), (3), (4), (5), (7), (9), (10), (11), and (12) of section 5181.01 of the Revised Code, the following data, but only to the extent that such data is available:

(1) The total of federal and state expenditures;

(2) The number of potentially eligible children;

(3) The number of enrolled children;

(4) The program's participation and utilization rates;

(5) The estimated number of eligible but unenrolled children;

(6) The number of available funded slots;

(7) The number of unused funded slots;

(8) The number of children remaining on waiting lists;

(9) The capacity of providers;

(10) The geographic availability of programs;

(11) The rates of county-level participation;

(12) Any significant barriers to enrollment that have been identified.

In preparing the report, the department shall distinguish between the following: a lack of funding, a lack of provider capacity, and a lack of participation by otherwise eligible families.

(C) To the extent permitted by federal law and notwithstanding any conflicting provision of the Revised Code, each report shall specifically address children who are four years of age to assist the general assembly in determining the costs and capacity necessary to provide voluntary universal pre-kindergarten access to four-year-olds in this state at a future date.

Sec. 5181.08. (A) To the extent permitted by federal law and notwithstanding any conflicting provision of the Revised Code, each department shall share with other departments the minimum data and information necessary to satisfy the requirements of this chapter. Such data and information shall be shared only as required by the chapter and not for any other purpose. Each department shall engage in efforts to ensure the security and confidentiality of any data or information it maintains or receives.

(B) Not later than the thirty-first day of December of each year, the directors of the departments described in division (A)(1) of section 5181.01 of the Revised Code as well as the director of budget and management shall collaborate and identify sources of federal funding or existing state funding to support the purposes of this chapter. The foregoing directors also shall collaborate and identify any provisions within this chapter that may jeopardize any funding the state receives or seeks to receive from the federal government.