PRE4CLE will hold a technical assistance session on March 21^st from 1:00-2:00 pm.  Join this Zoom link if you wish to talk more about the proposed rules or have questions about how to submit comments.

The Ohio Department of Children and Youth and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services have proposed amendments to the Step Up To Quality rules as well as an update to the child care reimbursement rate structure.

According to the proposed rules, the changes to Step Up To Quality are being made to reduce the number of benchmarks to eliminate administrative burdens and to focus on the benchmarks that should result in better child outcomes.  Some of the highlights of the proposed rules include:

• Replaces the 5-tiered star rating system with a 3-tiered rating system of bronze, silver, and gold
• Enhances early learning by requiring programs at all quality ratings to implement a curriculum
• Eliminates required forms
• Creates a new “Staff Child Interactions” Standard
• Removes the “Transitions (T)” Sub-Domain and “Communication and Engagement (CE)” Sub-Domain
• Eliminates an additional points system for programs to become four and five star rated; and
• Requires center-based programs to meet specific ratio and group size requirements for the gold rating

Additionally, the proposed change to the child care reimbursement rate structure provides detailed charts listing the impact of a base rate change to the 50^th percentile of the market rate, as well as the tiered rates for the proposed Step Up To Quality structure.

To provide feedback on these proposed changes, interested parties can submit comments until the deadline on March 26, 2024, at 12:00 am. Comments can be submitted here.  The two child care rule packages are listed under the Office of Family Assistance, and comment boxes appear next to each rule.

We encourage you to review and comment on these changes, as they will have a significant impact on the child care system in Ohio.