Governor DeWine Announces $10M Child Care Cred Program

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) Director Kara Wente this week announced the launch of the Child Care Cred Program, a $10 million program making child care more affordable for working families while helping Ohio businesses strengthen their workforce. The program was created through Ohio’s SFY26–SFY27 biennial budget and is designed to tackle one of the state’s biggest workforce challenges: access to affordable childcare.

When families do not have sufficient childcare options, the ability to join the workforce is impacted, thereby shrinking the available pool of potential employees. Without flexible, reliable, and affordable childcare, parents may struggle to keep up with work, which can lead to lost productivity. This creates extra costs for everyone. The partnerships aim to increase employee attendance, improve work performance, lower turnover rates, provide better child care options, and help childcare centers meet parents and the workforce where they are.  

The Child Care Cred Program is intended to better allow employers, employees, and childcare programs to make childcare more attainable, by splitting the monthly childcare costs between participating employees (40%), employers (40%), and the state (20%). Employees must be receiving income between 200% and 400% FPL.

Applications for this program are due by May 1, 2026, with funding only guaranteed through June 30th, 2026. Learn more here.