Stewart Appointed to Committee Studying State Child Care Services

February 10, 2010

State Senator Jimmy Stewart (R-Albany) was recently appointed by Senate President Bill Harris to serve on a bipartisan panel charged with conducting a comprehensive review of publicly-funded child care services in Ohio.

The Committee to Study Publicly Funded Child Care Services was created in House Bill 1—the current two-year state operating budget—to evaluate Ohio’s process for funding child care services and its impact on children, families and providers across the state, including quality of care, number of children served and the availability of child care services in communities with high-poverty rates.

The 13-member panel is comprised of three members each from the House and Senate, a parent of a child in publicly-funded child care, two representatives from child care centers serving low-income areas and one representative each from the Ohio Association of Child Care Providers, the Ohio State Alliance of Young Men’s Christian Associations, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the Ohio Department of Education.

Sen. Stewart will represent the Senate on the committee along with State Senator Chris Widener (R-Springfield) and State Senator Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo).

“There are hundreds of skilled, hard-working child care providers across Ohio, but it is important that state leaders examine the system to identify possible areas where these services could be improved for children, families and providers in the state,” said Stewart. “I look forward to being part of these discussions as the committee meets in the coming weeks.”

The group must submit a report of its findings to the Governor and legislative leaders by June 30.