In their final budget, Ohio lawmakers and the governor expanded access to child care by creating and growing the Child Care Choice Voucher program. This program supports families earning 146–200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) who are working or in school and would otherwise qualify for Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) if not for earning slightly above the income cutoff (145 percent FPL). The state also strengthened PFCC by placing two major policies into law:
- Enrollment-based payments for providers, replacing the attendance-based system that created financial instability for child care programs
- A cap on family copays at 7 percent of household income by October 2026
However, implementation of the enrollment-based payment structure and the 7 percent copay cap has been delayed to 2028 due to the need for additional federal guidance. An additional $2.85 million of state funding was allocated to the Child Care Provider Recruitment program to increase child care access in underserved areas in the state. And providers got a rate increase as of October 2025 moving to the 50th percentile of the 2024 Market Rate Survey.
Ohio passed a new child-care funding pilot called Child Care Cred. It is a one-year, $10-million investment by the Ohio Legislature and the governor to make child care more affordable for working families and help employers strengthen their workforce. Modeled after Tri-Share programs in other states, the Child Care Cred uses a 40/40/20 cost-share model: employers pay 40 percent, families pay 40 percent, and the state contributes the remaining 20 percent. This shared-responsibility approach lowers child care expenses for families while giving employers a practical tool to improve recruitment, retention, and employee reliability. Administered by the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, the program serves families who fall into a growing affordability gap—those who earn too much to qualify for Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) and too much for the Child Care Choice Voucher Program, yet still face significant child care costs. For these working families, even small changes in child care expenses can determine whether they stay in the workforce, reduce hours, or turn down job opportunities. This $10-million pilot reflects Ohio’s commitment to innovative, shared-solution models that support families, stabilize the child care sector, and strengthen the state’s long-term economic competitiveness.
Ohio has strengthened its commitment to early literacy by investing $6.2 million in additional state funding to expand access to high-quality, evidence-based reading supports for young children. This investment prioritizes curricula, instructional materials, and early learning activities that align with the science of reading—an approach grounded in decades of research on how children build foundational literacy skills. By supporting programs and providers in adopting these proven strategies, the state is working to ensure that more children enter kindergarten with strong language, vocabulary, and early reading readiness. In addition to expanding science-aligned literacy supports, Ohio allocated an additional $500,000 to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. This program sends free, developmentally appropriate books each month to children from birth to age five, helping families build rich home literacy environments regardless of income or location. The Imagination Library has been shown to increase parent–child reading, strengthen early language development, and foster a lifelong love of books. Combined, these investments enhance Ohio’s capacity to close early literacy gaps, support families, and ensure that all young learners have access to the tools and experiences that help them become confident readers. By acting early and investing wisely, Ohio is building a stronger foundation for children’s long-term academic success.
Ohio’s $15.2-million state investment in Part C Early Intervention represents a significant commitment to ensuring that infants and toddlers with developmental delays receive the timely evaluations and coordinated services they need to thrive. This investment strengthens Ohio’s ability to meet federal requirements for timely evaluation, assessment, and individualized family service plans (IFSPs), while improving the overall quality and consistency of service coordination across all 88 counties. The funding expands local capacity so that families can receive evaluations more quickly and begin appropriate supports without delay—an essential factor in improving children’s long-term developmental outcomes. With these dollars, the state can hire additional qualified professionals, reduce caseloads for service coordinators, and ensure that families have a single, knowledgeable point of contact to navigate available resources and supports. Ultimately, this $15.2-million investment helps ensure that more Ohio babies get the right services at the right time—supporting families, strengthening early childhood development, and advancing Ohio’s goal of giving every child the strongest possible start.
Ohio has made a significant commitment to improving infant vitality by investing $3.8 million in state funds to leverage a total of $36 million over the biennium. This strategic investment strengthens the state’s ability to address persistent disparities in infant mortality and support evidence-based interventions that improve health and wellbeing for pregnant people, infants, and families. A key component of this investment is a $5-million allocation dedicated specifically to community- and faith-based programming. These dollars enable trusted local organizations to expand supports for families, implement culturally responsive outreach, and deliver solutions that reflect the unique needs of their communities. By empowering local partners, Ohio is advancing a bottom-up approach to infant vitality—one that centers families, builds relationships, and removes barriers to care. The investment also scales successful models such as Cradle Cincinnati, which has demonstrated strong outcomes through coordinated prenatal supports, safe sleep education, and community-driven strategies to reduce Black infant mortality. By expanding this model to additional regions, Ohio is working to replicate success, strengthen care systems, and ensure that more families have access to proven interventions. Together, these investments position Ohio to drive meaningful, measurable progress in reducing infant mortality and supporting healthier beginnings for all babies.
The state significantly expanded its commitment to early childhood development by increasing funding for Help Me Grow’s evidence-based home visiting programs by $21.5 million. This major investment strengthens the state’s ability to reach families during the most critical years of a child’s development—prenatal to age three—when early support has the greatest long-term impact. With this increase, Ohio can serve approximately 9,000 additional children and their caregivers, expanding access to proven interventions that promote healthy pregnancies, strengthen parent–child relationships, and support children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. Help Me Grow home visiting programs use nationally recognized, evidence-based models delivered by trained home visitors who meet families where they are—literally and figuratively. Through regular visits, caregivers receive guidance on child development, early learning, safety, health, and family wellbeing, while also being connected to essential community resources. These programs have been shown to improve birth outcomes, boost school readiness, and strengthen family stability. This funding not only expands capacity but also supports the workforce, data systems, and quality-improvement infrastructure needed for effective, high-fidelity program delivery. By increasing access to home visiting for thousands more children, Ohio is making a targeted, measurable investment in stronger families, healthier babies, and better long-term outcomes for communities across the state.
Ohio has invested an additional $20 million to establish Child Wellness Campuses, a new statewide strategy to provide short-term treatment and stabilization for children in crisis who are awaiting foster care placement. These children—often with significant behavioral health needs—have increasingly been left with nowhere to go, resulting in some spending nights in county children’s services offices. This investment directly addresses that crisis. The funding will support the creation of five regional campuses designed to serve children who are in state custody and need immediate, specialized care. Each campus will offer therapeutic support, assessment, and coordinated services to help stabilize children and prepare them for a safe, appropriate, and longer-term placement. The goal is for each child to transition to a more permanent placement within 45 days, reducing trauma, improving continuity of care, and helping children move more quickly into environments that can meet their needs. By building this coordinated regional system, Ohio is ensuring that no child in crisis is left without a safe place to go. This investment strengthens the state’s foster care infrastructure, reduces the burden on local children’s services agencies, and creates a more humane, responsive approach to supporting children with high needs.
Ohio invested $20 million more in the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood enabling expansion of programs and services to support more communities across Ohio.
The state earmarked $1 million to support stable housing for pregnant mothers over the biennium to help improve maternal and infant health outcomes.
The state also invested $5 million in pediatric cancer research.
