Day-care centers across the state had been gearing up for a funding cut, but almost none expected what the new Ohio budget gave them two weeks ago.
The devastating cuts included eliminating the Early Learning Initiative program, a child-care program for low-income families that served about 13,000 children across the state. "It will be different," said Mary Emmett, looking around a classroom full of toddlers at the Children's Discovery Center in downtown Toledo. She doesn't know yet how many children she will lose, but said the number could be significant. "You get really attached to them," said Ms. Emmett, who is a teacher's assistant at the day care. CDC's seven locations across the city provide child care for about 1,500 children weekly, 136 of whom are in the ELI program. The CDC's downtown location has 33 ELI kids. Some of them are old enough to go to kindergarten next year, and some of them will qualify for other types of public child care. But some will be out of luck. "Whether or not they will get that subsidized care, it's hard to say," said the downtown CDC's director, Erin Cousino. Two public child-care programs are administered through Lucas County Job and Family Services: ELI and "subsidized child care." Many families, but not all, will be able to switch from one to the other. To qualify for ELI, parents did not need to have work. But to qualify for subsidized child care, they must prove that they are working, in school, or in a training program. The income eligibility guidelines are also more strict for subsidized child care. Families at 200 percent of the poverty level qualified for ELI, but only families at 150 percent of the poverty level or below qualify for subsidized child care. Head Start, a federally funded program, is another option, but only for families at 100 percent of the poverty level. "I had a parent say to me, 'I don't want to send my kids to Head Start, but what choice do I have?'•" said Ms. Emmett. Unlike ELI and subsidized child care, which are both year-round and full-time, Head Start is usually part-time during the school year. Another option is the Early Childhood Education Program, better known as "public preschool." The program is part-time during the school year, and is run by local school districts. Even if families are able to switch from ELI to subsidized child care, it won't be the same. "These kids get more services," said Maria Bekos, a teacher at CDC. "We have more outside resources we can contact if they need help." The ELI initiative, which the state began in 2004, included daily educational programming, health and developmental screenings, certified teachers, and low teacher-to-child ratios. Subsidized child care is also full-time care, but it doesn't offer health screenings and the teacher requirements and ratios are less strict. "Some of the kids really need that one-on-one," said Ms. Emmett. "They've got some more issues, and they don't get the help at home." CDC facilities won't be affected much by the cut, because they can just take more children under subsidized child care. But Ms. Cousino said that some things will be changing. Because the ELI teacher-child ratio standards are no longer 1 to 10, she now has the option to lay off teachers if necessary. And employee benefits have already been cut. Parents looking for alternatives to ELI have already flooded Lucas County Job and Family Services with applications for subsidized child care. "We've had a rush of applications from current ELI families," said Deb Ortiz-Flores, director of Job and Family Services. "We were actually concerned about the number of applications coming in." Agency Associate Director Carol Rehm said the influx started around July 20 after the budget was announced. More than 1,400 children were enrolled in ELI this past May in Lucas County. The state budget cut, which saves it about $125 million, was a major factor in the decision by the YMCA of Greater Toledo to close its South Toledo branch on Aug. 29. The agency had been expecting $1.5 million from the state to continue running ELI and serving about 300 children a year. About 45 ELI children were at the South Toledo branch. "The ELI program serviced a very high-risk population," said Sarah Otis, the Y's vice president of child development. "If their parents don't qualify for public funding, we don't have the support system to continue those kids' service. It's a very expensive proposition." She said she anticipated that about 60 percent of families benefiting from ELI at YMCA branches would qualify for subsidized child care, which the agency already provides to hundreds more children a year. Ms. Ortiz said that the YMCA and other ELI providers acted quickly once they received the news. "I think the providers have been proactive," she said, noting that most had given ELI families the paperwork they needed to apply for subsidized child care.