A caretaker who is engaged in employment, training, or education activities may be eligible for child care benefits. To become eligible for publicly funded child care, a family’s income must be below 142 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). After that, families may remain eligible unless their income becomes greater than 300 percent of the FPL. Families can be eligible for all or part of their monthly child care expenses.

To apply you must:

1.) Complete an application

2.) Provide verification of income

3.) Provide copies of school schedules, if you are a student

4.) Provide verification of citizenship.

This program is based on your income and family size. You choose your Child Care provider. Contact Child Care @ 740-432-2381.

Ohio uses a swipe card system to record the time and attendance of children receiving publicly funded child care. Parents or guardians simply swipe the Electronic Child Care card when dropping off their children and swipe it again when picking them up. ODJFS then issues direct deposit payments to providers to reimburse them for the time they spend caring for children in the program. The card is easy to use, reduces fraud and greatly increases payment accuracy.

Families searching for child care in Ohio should visit http://jfs.ohio.gov/cdc/index.stm

This website allows families to search for child care by county, city, zip code, and Step Up To Quality rating. Families also can search for specific providers and view their past inspection reports.

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) licensed child care providers serving more than 12 children are subject to inspections by ODJFS licensing specialists each year. For smaller programs serving 12 or fewer children, county Departments of Job and Family Services conduct inspections each year. ODJFS reviews county agencies to insure they are adequately inspecting providers.

ODJFS also offers training and guidance to providers to help them improve the quality of care. All child care providers and staff are subject to criminal background checks, including staff who have no direct contact with children, such as cooks and custodians. For in-home providers, all residents of the home 18 years and older must complete background checks. In addition, ODJFS sends a list of all child care providers to the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association so county sheriffs can cross- check that list with their local sex offender registries.

 

 

If you have knowledge that a person receiving child care benefits or a child care provider has provided false or inaccurate information to either the county or the state and you would like to report it, you may do so by calling the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) to report the information at (877) 302 - 2347, Option 4 or by email at: [email protected].