Cleveland, OH

Ohio ranks last for child care reimbursement formula. Federal government orders state to raise its rates

Published

11 months ago

August 31, 2023

Ohio ranks last for child care reimbursement formula. Federal government orders state to raise its rates

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio, one of only a handful of states that reimburses child care providers at the 25th percentile of the local market rate, has been ordered by the federal government to do better, regardless of whether new national standards being proposed are enacted.

Being at the 25th percentile means that lower-income families qualifying for the program have access to the least expensive 25% of child care centers in their area. No states are lower. Parents are free to use high-cost centers, paying the difference, but these vouchers are for families living at or near 145% of the poverty level. And child care centers are not required to accept subsidies.

Ohio, under federal order, must increase its rates to at least the 50th percentile by the end of 2024, or incur a penalty.

Separately, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that it is considering policy changes that increase the national standard to the 75th percentile, and make other changes aimed at lowering child care costs, such as paying based on enrollment, rather than attendance.

Why does this matter?

Jamie O’Leary, associate director of policy for the Crane Center and Schoenbaum Family Center at Ohio State University, said that while percentiles can be confusing, such a change would be of significant importance to lower-income families seeking child care so they can afford to go to work.

“The feds have said the 75th percentile provides ‘equal access’ for families. This means that for families using public child care subsidies, three out of four options in the child care market should be affordable or accessible to them,” O’Leary said.

Regardless of whether the new rules go through, the federal government under an order issued earlier this summer is still requiring Ohio to increase access from the 25th percentile to the 50th percentile.

“ODJFS is developing a plan to bring the state into compliance,” said a representative from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. “ODJFS has been in continuous contact with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about a non-compliance notice.”

Officials in Alaska, one of the four other states previously reimbursing based on the 25th percentile, said the state already has changed to the 75th percentile – the same standard now being proposed nationally.

In our Rethinking Child Care series, cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer in 2023 examine the struggle to find quality, affordable child care and propose solutions to share families’ burdens and help the economy. Follow the coverage at this link.

Ohio, Alaska, Colorado and Georgia were at the bottom nationally in using the 25th percentile in 2022, the time of the last market survey. On the high end, at the 85th percentile, were Louisiana and Washington. Eighteen states were at least the 75th percentile.

Some mobile users may need to use this link to see the chart above on state child care percentile rates.

Although Ohio has one of the lowest percentiles, it does not have the lowest base rate by dollar amount, which goes to Mississippi at $110.77 per week, according to the Center of American Progress. Ohio’s base rate is $146.25, though what is paid in Cuyahoga County under the program is nearly double that.

Alaska, Colorado, Georgia and Ohio have higher dollar amounts because their markets are more expensive and have a higher cost of living, so their rates offer fewer options.

Base rates are the minimum amount a child care center will be paid, higher for centers meeting certain criteria, including participating in the state’s Step Up to Quality five-star program, awarded for achieving benchmarks.

“If you’re working for the state, you’ll be quick to point out that if you are at Step Up to Quality, you do get more money,” says O’Leary. “They’re trying to incentivize higher quality providers, but the feds have said your base rate needs to be higher, especially when it comes to infants and toddlers.”

To make child care facilities affordable, states reimburse some of the cost families must pay. How much a child care provider receives from a state is based on location, the quality level of the provider, and the age of the children that attend.

The most generous subsidies is for infant, center-based care in Washington, Louisiana and West Virginia, at the 85th percentile.

Currently, the base child care center rate is $159.58 per full-time infant in Fulton County. In Cuyahoga County, the same parameter would yield $245. The rate is reassessed every two to three years, according to market rates. In both cases, rates can be higher based on quality ratings.

But not every child care center opts into publicly funded child care.

“Some providers don’t accept PFCC simply because the payments from the state aren’t high enough to cover their costs,” says O’Leary.

Market rate surveys are done approximately every two years to help state governments establish the current market rates for child care programs across Ohio by provider type, child age group, and region.

Market rate surveys and percentiles are related because the budget for child care programs is determined by the funds they get from the state through reimbursements determined by the survey. This budget has to cover materials, food, teacher wages, building expenses, administration and other costs, even though the reimbursement rates only calculate the cost per child.

There is another option some advocates are pushing for – basing rates on estimated costs rather than what is being charged, a method called cost estimation modeling.

“Imagine an Excel file that you would use to budget,” said O’Leary. You’re putting in the cost of your building rent, what it takes to pay your ten teachers based on today’s market and the food, which has gone up due to inflation. So when you go to sit down, you get your budget. You wouldn’t just put in an outdated figure from three years ago.”

New Mexico, Virgina and the District of Columbia have made the switch. Approval is necessary from the Federal Administration for Children and Families.

While cost modeling does not address the shortage of child care money or the need for public investment, it does improve the distribution of funds between existing and future needs more at the moment.

New Mexico notes the flexibility: “The cost model can be modified to account for additional costs that may arise due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, such as the cost of substitute time and paid sick leave due to quarantine and testing requirements, personal protective equipment and cleaning costs, or lower group size requirements.”

Cost analysis is already required by states when they have to redo their market rate survey every three years for their new Child Care and Development Fund, and a number of states have already used a variation of cost modeling to meet that requirement.

Zachary Smith is the data reporter for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. He can be reached at zsmith@cleveland.com. See previous stories at this link.

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Cleveland, OH

Fatal shooting on east side after reports of large fight: Cleveland Police

Published

2 hours ago

August 4, 2024

Press Room

Fatal shooting on east side after reports of large fight: Cleveland Police

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – One man is dead after a shooting following reports of a large fight on the east side, according to Cleveland Police.

Police got reports of a large fight around 2:50 a.m. on Saturday in the 1000 block of East 71st Street.

While officers were en route, they learned that two people were shot.

Police located a 22-year-old man and a 24-year-old man who were both shot, according to a release.

Both of the men were taken to the hospital by EMS.

The 22-year-old man later died at the hospital.

The condition of the 24-year-old is unknown.

Cleveland Police homicide unit is investigating, according to police.

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Cleveland, OH

WWE SummerSlam 2024 Results: Winners And Grades On August 3, 2024

Published

10 hours ago

August 4, 2024

Press Room

WWE SummerSlam 2024 results

Credit: WWE.com

WWE SummerSlam 2024 from Cleveland, Ohio advertised six championship matches. Among them was Solo Sikoa challenging Cody Rhodes for the WWE Undisputed Championship, LA Knight challenging Logan Paul for the WWE United States Championship, Sami Zayn defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Bron Breakker and GUNTHER challenging Damian Priest for the WWE World Championship.

This week’s broadcast of WWE Raw garnered 1.412 million viewers on SyFy after being preempted by the Olympics.

WWE SummerSlam Results | August 3, 2024

Liv Morgan def. Rhea Ripley | WWE Women’s World Championship
Bron Breakker def. Sami Zayn | WWE Intercontinental Championship
LA Knight def. Logan Paul | WWE United States Championship
Nia Jax def. Bayley | WWE Women’s Championship
Drew McIntyre def. CM Punk
GUNTHER def. Damian Priest | WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Cody Rhodes def. Solo Sikoa | WWE Undisputed Championship

WWE SummerSlam 2024 Ticket Sales

WWE SummerSlam 2024 Venue: Cleveland Browns Stadium (Cleveland, OH)
WWE SummerSlam 2024 Tickets Distributed: 55,858
WWE SummerSlam 2024 Tickets Available: 807

WWE Money In The Bank 2024 Winners And Grades

Liv Morgan Def. Rhea Ripley

Despite all the talk of The Judgment Day competing by themselves, Dominik Mysterio accompanied Rhea Ripley to the ring.

Michael Cole noted the last time Rhea Ripley lost a singles match was 26 months ago. To Liv Morgan.

This match started as a cat-and-mouse as Liv ran away from Ripley. Fans became frustrated and booed Liv loudly.

Rhea dominated this match until Liv Morgan dodged a charging Ripley and followed up by throwing her, shoulder-first, into the turnbuckle. Ripley could be heard (kayfabe) saying “it’s out, it’s out!”

Fans were split as they made dueling chants of “let’s go Rhea/let’s go Liv!”

Liv Morgan (kayfabe) popped her shoulder back into place by running herself into the announce table and fans went crazy.

Ripley hit the riptide, but did not pin Morgan. Instead, she grabbed a steel chair that Morgan brought into the ring. Mysterio grabbed the chair from her, which was the wise decision because she would have gotten herself disqualified. This led to an Oblivion for a nearfall and “holy s—t” chants.

Dom distracted the ref, leading to an Oblivion on the steel chair for the win. After the match, Dominik Mysterio kissed Liv Morgan and they left together.

Backstage, Damian Priest was furious with Dominik Mysterio for his actions. Finn and the rest of the Judgment Day vowed to go find him. I don’t trust them.

Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan Grade: A-

Bron Breakker Def. Sami Zayn

Bron Breakker hit his always impressive Breakkensteiner early on, then he proceeded to scream “quit!” at Sami Zayn.

Bron Breakker cut Sami Zayn off with a Spear, then he hit ayn with another Spear for the win. This wasn’t necessarily a squash match, but it was definitely a dominant win for Breakker.

Bron Breakker vs. Sami Zayn Grade: B

LA Knight Def. Logan Paul

Logan Paul wore a Cleveland-inspired American Flag vest and greeted two security guards on his way to the ring. One of hte security guards turned out to be Cleveland’s own MGK.

LA Knight shattered the glass on Logan Paul’s Prime vehicle before making his way to the ring.

Paul cleared the table, but LA Knight got the better of him with a modified TKO, though the table didn’t break.

Paul won these people over with a springboard moonsault on LA Knight. Though they cheered the spot, they eventually came to their senses and chanted “you still suck!”

After jumping up on the top rope, LA Knight hit a scary looking superplex. Fans chanted “this is awesome” after a nearfall.

Logan Paul borrowed brass knuckles from MGK. After a shot to LA Knight, Knight countered with a BFT.

Logan Paul vs. LA Knight Grade: A-

Nia Jax Def. Bayley

Bayley relentlessly knocked Nia Jax off her feet early in the match.

Nia Jax took control of the match, to the point where she hit the Annihilator, but Bayley kicked out.

Jax called herself “reckless” and “clumsy” while trash-talking Bayley on offense.

Bayley hit an awesome power bomb on Nia Jax from the top rope. The fans were fervently into a match that struggled to follow Logan Paul vs. LA Knight.

A Tiffany Stratton cash-in was thwarted by Bayley, but the distraction led to two power bombs and two Annihilators for the win.

Nia Jax vs. Bayley Grade: A-

Drew McIntyre Def. CM Punk

Seth Rollins walked out in a long cloak, and what was under the jacket was certain to be even wilder.

WWE used ref cameras on the referee’s ear, and there were never more ref cam shots than during Seth Rollins’ entrance.

Rollins’ referee outfit were baggy, bedazzled pants and a cutoff shirt similar to Shawn Michaels.

Fans chanted “CM Punk” to start the match as punk donned pink gear in homage to Bret Hart.

Rollins did a great job working the fans into a frenzy before ringing the bell. When the bell rang, Punk and McIntyre brawled like crazy.

Instead of counting to 10 while Punk and McIntyre were outside of the ring, Rollins instead chose to tie his shoes. Rollins also took immense pleasure in seeing Punk and Rollins beat the hell out of one another.

During an Anaconda Vice on McIntyre, Punk secured his friendship bracelet and the entire stadium celebrated.

Punk stopped his GTS on McIntyre dead in its tracks and confronted Rollins about wearing his bracelet, which Rollins picked up off the ground did wear, but out of no malice.

After a ref bump and a nearfall (followed by a second visual pinfall), Punk and Rollins got into a heated argument. Punk hit a Go To Sleep on Rollins and took his bracelet back, but it cost him the match.

Drew McIntyre vs. CM Punk Grade: B+

GUNTHER Def. Damian Priest

Finn Balor wished Damian Priest luck before the match. Famous last words.

GUNTHER already had chop marks on his chest before the match even started.

GUNTHER and Priest chopped the hell out of one another to the point where GUNTHER was bleeding from the chest.

Finn Balor hit the ring, presumably to save Priest, but he ended up costing Priest the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by putting GUNTHER’s leg on the bottom rope.

After this match, Jelly Roll, The Miz and R-Truth took out A-Town Down Under.

GUNTHER vs. Damian Priest Grade: B+

Cody Rhodes Def. Solo Sikoa

Cody Rhodes ran into Arn Anderson backstage, and Anderson said he called in a few favors to a few allies of Cody Rhodes. Some of whom he knows, some he doesn’t.

For a full recap of Cody vs. Solo Sikoa in Bloodline Rules, click here.

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Cleveland, OH

Ohio State loses out to Oregon for in-state five-star safety

Published

17 hours ago

August 3, 2024

Press Room

Ohio State loses out to Oregon for in-state five-star safety

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