In light of the tremendous challenges members are having filling critical jobs, LeadingAge Ohio is excited to share important information about supporting employees and job applicants who would like to come to work for you but who can’t afford child care.
Ohio’s Head Start agencies (which operate in every county) offer FREE child care and early learning to children in families earning at or below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level. More applicants than you think may qualify — and current employees, too.
A single head of household with two children can earn $14 per hour, work 30 hours per week and be eligible. Full-time child care can cost $200-$300 per week for just one child. When families can avoid paying $800-$1200 per month for this expense, working pays off.
Moreover, now that supplemental unemployment benefits have expired, many people who have been out of the workforce need to find work. Eliminating the cost of child care can be a game-changer.
There’s also this important consideration: Once a family is enrolled in Head Start, they can continue receiving FREE child care until their child ages out of Early Head Start (for children from 6 weeks to age 3) or traditional Head Start (for children from age 3 to 5.) In addition to getting child care, families also are assigned a Family Support Specialist who helps them set goals and access community resources — all with the goal of helping the family become financially secure and independent.
Head Start’s policy of continuing to serve families even if their income changes is different than Ohio’s Publicly Funded Child Care program, which can be lost as an individual's income increases, whether by increasing hours or via promotions and/or raises. Families who receive PFCC assistance can get hit with increases in their co-payments or they can lose their child care subsidy altogether if they earn too much. On the other hand, Head Start rules are designed to give families time to get their financial footing.
Another little-known fact is that families providing kinship or foster care or who have children with a disability automatically qualify to participate in Head Start — regardless of income.
The Head Start agency that serves Montgomery, Clark and Madison counties — Miami Valley Child Development Centers — recently distributed this brochure. Take a look!
We’re planning a webinar where we’ll share more details, and Head Start administrators will take your questions. Meanwhile, if you want to reach out to your local Head Start agency and ask how they can support prospective employees and how you can connect applicants to Head Start, click on this map to find contact information.
Watch for an announcement about the webinar coming soon!