As Introduced

136th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 768

2025-2026

To amend sections 5104.30 and 5104.34 and to enact section 5104.342 of the Revised Code to provide publicly funded child care benefits to certain child care staff members and to make an appropriation.

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

Section 1. That sections 5104.30 and 5104.34 be amended and section 5104.342 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 5104.30. (A) The department of children and youth is hereby designated as the state agency responsible for administration and coordination of federal and state funding for publicly funded child care in this state. Publicly funded child care shall be provided to the following:

(1) Recipients of transitional child care as provided under section 5104.34 of the Revised Code;

(2) Participants in the Ohio works first program established under Chapter 5107. of the Revised Code;

(3) Individuals who would be participating in the Ohio works first program if not for a sanction under section 5107.16 of the Revised Code and who continue to participate in a work activity, developmental activity, or alternative work activity pursuant to an assignment under section 5107.42 of the Revised Code;

(4) A family receiving publicly funded child care on October 1, 1997, until the family's income reaches one hundred fifty per cent of the federal poverty line;

(5) Subject to available funds, other individuals determined eligible in accordance with rules adopted under section 5104.38 of the Revised Code;

(6) Subject to available funds, child care staff members as provided under section 5104.342 of the Revised Code.

The department shall apply to the United States department of health and human services for authority to operate a coordinated program for publicly funded child care, if the director of children and youth determines that the application is necessary. For purposes of this section, the department of children and youth may enter into agreements with other state agencies that are involved in regulation or funding of child care. The department shall consider the special needs of migrant workers when it administers and coordinates publicly funded child care and shall develop appropriate procedures for accommodating the needs of migrant workers for publicly funded child care.

(B) The department of children and youth shall distribute state and federal funds for publicly funded child care, including appropriations of state funds for publicly funded child care and appropriations of federal funds available under the child care block grant act, Title IV-A, and Title XX. The department may use any state funds appropriated for publicly funded child care as the state share required to match any federal funds appropriated for publicly funded child care.

(1) The department may use the federal funds to hire staff to prepare any rules required under this chapter and to administer and coordinate federal and state funding for publicly funded child care.

(2) Not more than five per cent of the aggregate amount of the federal funds received for a fiscal year may be expended for administrative costs.

(3) The department shall allocate and use at least four per cent of the federal funds for the following:

(a) Activities designed to provide comprehensive consumer education to parents and the public;

(b) Activities that increase parental choice;

(c) Activities, including child care resource and referral services, designed to improve the quality, and increase the supply, of child care;

(d) Establishing the step up to quality program pursuant to section 5104.29 of the Revised Code.

(4) The department shall ensure that the federal funds will be used only to supplement, and will not be used to supplant, federal, state, and local funds available on the effective date of the child care block grant act for publicly funded child care and related programs. If authorized by rules adopted by the department pursuant to section 5104.42 of the Revised Code, county departments of job and family services may purchase child care from funds obtained through any other means.

(D) The department shall encourage the development of suitable child care throughout the state, especially in areas with high concentrations of recipients of public assistance and families with low incomes. The department shall encourage the development of suitable child care designed to accommodate the special needs of migrant workers. On request, the department, through its employees or contracts with state or community child care resource and referral service organizations, shall provide consultation to groups and individuals interested in developing child care. The department of children and youth may enter into interagency agreements with the department of education and workforce, the chancellor of higher education, the department of development, and other state agencies and entities whenever the cooperative efforts of the other state agencies and entities are necessary for the department of children and youth to fulfill its duties and responsibilities under this chapter.

The department shall develop and maintain a registry of persons providing child care. The director shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing procedures and requirements for the registry's administration.

(E)(1) The director shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing both of the following:

(a) Payment rates for providers of publicly funded child care not later than the first day of July in each odd-numbered year;

(b) A procedure for paying providers of publicly funded child care.

(2) In establishing payment rates under division (E)(1)(a) of this section, the director shall do all of the following:

(a) Use the information obtained from the market rate survey developed and conducted in accordance with 45 C.F.R. 98.45;

(b) Establish an enhanced payment rate for providers who enroll children whose caretaker parents work nontraditional hours;

(c) With regard to the step up to quality program established pursuant to section 5104.29 of the Revised Code, establish enhanced payment rates for child care providers that participate in the program.

(3) In establishing payment rates under division (E)(1)(a) of this section, the director may establish different payment rates based on any of the following:

(a) Geographic location of the provider;

(b) Type of care provided;

(d) Special needs of the child served;

(e) Whether the expanded hours of service are provided;

(f) Whether weekend service is provided;

(g) Whether the provider has exceeded the minimum requirements of state statutes and rules governing child care;

(h) Any other factors the director considers appropriate.

Sec. 5104.34. (A)(1) Each county department of job and family services shall implement procedures for making determinations of eligibility for publicly funded child care. Under those procedures, the eligibility determination for each applicant shall be made no later than thirty calendar days from the date the county department receives a completed application for publicly funded child care. Each applicant shall be notified promptly of the results of the eligibility determination. An applicant aggrieved by a decision or delay in making an eligibility determination may appeal the decision or delay to the department of children and youth in accordance with section 5101.35 of the Revised Code. The due process rights of applicants shall be protected.

To the extent permitted by federal law, the county department may make all determinations of eligibility for publicly funded child care, may contract with child care providers or child care resource and referral service organizations for the providers or resource and referral service organizations to make all or any part of the determinations, and may contract with child care providers or child care resource and referral service organizations for the providers or resource and referral service organizations to collect specified information for use by the county department in making determinations. If a county department contracts with a child care provider or a child care resource and referral service organization for eligibility determinations or for the collection of information, the contract shall require the provider or resource and referral service organization to make each eligibility determination no later than thirty calendar days from the date the provider or resource and referral organization receives a completed application that is the basis of the determination and to collect and transmit all necessary information to the county department within a period of time that enables the county department to make each eligibility determination no later than thirty days after the filing of the application that is the basis of the determination.

The county department may station employees of the department in various locations throughout the county to collect information relevant to applications for publicly funded child care and to make eligibility determinations. The county department, child care provider, and child care resource and referral service organization shall make each determination of eligibility for publicly funded child care no later than thirty days after the filing of the application that is the basis of the determination, shall make each determination in accordance with any relevant rules adopted pursuant to section 5104.38 of the Revised Code, and shall notify promptly each applicant for publicly funded child care of the results of the determination of the applicant's eligibility.

The director of children and youth shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code for monitoring the eligibility determination process. In accordance with those rules, the state department shall monitor eligibility determinations made by county departments of job and family services and shall direct any entity that is not in compliance with this division or any rule adopted under this division to implement corrective action specified by the department.

(2)(a) All eligibility determinations for publicly funded child care shall be made in accordance with rules adopted pursuant to division (A) of section 5104.38 of the Revised Code. Except as otherwise provided in this section, all of the following apply:

(i) Publicly funded child care may be provided only to eligible infants, toddlers, preschool-age children, school-age children under age thirteen, or children receiving special needs child care.

(ii) For an applicant to be eligible for publicly funded child care, the caretaker parent must be employed or participating in a program of education or training for an amount of time reasonably related to the time that the parent's children are receiving publicly funded child care. This restriction does not apply to families whose children are eligible for protective child care.

(iii) The eligibility period for publicly funded child care shall be at least twelve months.

(b) If a caretaker parent who has been determined eligible to receive publicly funded child care no longer meets the requirements of division (A)(2)(a)(ii) of this section, the caretaker parent may continue to receive publicly funded child care for a period of at least three but not more than four months not to extend beyond the caretaker parent's eligibility period.

(c) If a child turns thirteen, or if a child receiving special needs child care turns eighteen, during the eligibility period, the caretaker parent may continue to receive publicly funded child care until the end of that eligibility period.

Subject to available funds, and except as provided in section 5104.342 of the Revised Code, the department of children and youth shall allow a family to receive publicly funded child care unless the family's income exceeds the maximum income eligibility limit. Initial and continued eligibility for publicly funded child care is subject to available funds unless the family is receiving child care pursuant to division (A)(1), (2), (3), or (4) of section 5104.30 of the Revised Code. If the department must limit eligibility due to lack of available funds, it shall give first priority for publicly funded child care to an assistance group whose income is not more than the maximum income eligibility limit that received transitional child care in the previous month but is no longer eligible because the eligibility period has expired. Such an assistance group shall continue to receive priority for publicly funded child care until its income exceeds the maximum income eligibility limit.

(3) An assistance group that ceases to participate in the Ohio works first program established under Chapter 5107. of the Revised Code is eligible for transitional child care at any time during the immediately following twelve-month period that both of the following apply:

(a) The assistance group requires child care due to employment;

(b) The assistance group's income is not more than one hundred fifty per cent of the federal poverty line.

An assistance group ineligible to participate in the Ohio works first program pursuant to section 5101.83 or section 5107.16 of the Revised Code is not eligible for transitional child care.

(B) To the extent permitted by federal law, the department of children and youth may require a caretaker parent determined to be eligible for publicly funded child care to pay a fee according to the schedule of fees established in rules adopted under section 5104.38 of the Revised Code. The department shall make protective child care services and homeless child care services available to children without regard to the income or assets of the caretaker parent of the child.

(C) A caretaker parent receiving publicly funded child care shall report to the entity that determined eligibility any changes in status with respect to employment or participation in a program of education or training not later than ten calendar days after the change occurs.

(D) If the department of children and youth determines that available resources are not sufficient to provide publicly funded child care to all eligible families who request it, the department may establish a waiting list. The department may establish separate waiting lists within the waiting list based on income.

(E) A caretaker parent shall not receive publicly funded child care from more than one child care provider per child during a week, unless a county department grants the family an exemption for one of the following reasons:

(1) The child needs additional care during non-traditional hours;

(2) The child needs to change providers in the middle of the week and the hours of care provided by the providers do not overlap;

(3) The child's provider is closed on scheduled school days off or on calamity days.

(F) As used in this section, "maximum income eligibility limit" means the amount of income specified in rules adopted under division (A) of section 5104.38 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 5104.342. (A) As used in this section and section 5104.30 of the Revised Code, "child care staff member" does not include an employee of an approved child day camp or an administrator, authorized representative, or owner.

(B) When determining eligibility for publicly funded child care as described in section 5104.34 of the Revised Code, a county department of job and family services shall exclude all of a family's income from that determination if an applicant for publicly funded child care demonstrates to the county department that the child's caretaker parent is a child care staff member who works as such for a minimum of twenty hours per week. The applicant shall otherwise meet the requirements of division (A)(2)(a) of section 5104.34 of the Revised Code.

Section 2. That existing sections 5104.30 and 5104.34 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. On the effective date of this section, or as soon as possible thereafter, the Director of Children and Youth shall certify to the Director of Budget and Management the amount necessary to provide publicly funded child care benefits to child care staff members in accordance with section 5104.342 of the Revised Code during fiscal year 2026 and fiscal year 2027. The amount certified is hereby appropriated.

Within the limits set forth in this act, the Director of Budget and Management shall establish accounts indicating the source and amount of funds for each appropriation made in this act, and shall determine the manner in which appropriation accounts shall be maintained. Expenditures from operating appropriations contained in this act shall be accounted for as though made in, and are subject to all applicable provisions of, H.B. 96 of the 136th General Assembly.