CINCINNATI — As more employers ask their employees to return to office, many Tri-State families are struggling to find child care. Now, Cincinnati leaders are working to find a solution.
City Council member Mark Jeffreys said for some families there’s a lack of options near their home, while other lack quality care they can afford.
Now, there’s an effort from city council members to create a child care task force to address some of these challenges.
Tina Kidd, director of Tender Tots day care in Walnut Hills, said she’s glad city leaders are taking action because it’s a real issue for families.
“We have a lot of families that struggle, single parents that have to work, and can't afford private pay day care,” Kidd said.
Kidd said the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services offers vouchers to help eligible parents pay for child care costs while they work. She said it’s becoming increasingly difficult for families to meet the requirements for that.
“We've had multiple families that have had to pull because they couldn't get the vouchers anymore and they couldn't afford to privately pay for care,” she said.
Former council member Liz Keating will be leading the child care task force. Jeffreys said child care is a passion of her's.
“I talked to her about this before she left council. I mean, I think it's a natural fit for her,” Jeffreys said. “She'll be leading it and pulling together the right stakeholders from the city from private sector and others in order to assess what the scope is exactly of the task force.”
Kidd said she hopes the task force will be able to primarily help parents with one thing: funding.
“Funding, really is the main thing to help the parents, the ones that struggle need the care for their kids,” she said.
She said it’s critical for parents to have a place they can afford, but also, a place they can trust.
“It's worth it. It's worth that, that struggle because it's so important to families to have high quality centers,” she said. “They know that their kids are safe, well taken care of and that they're learning and ready to start school.”
The task force is still in the very early stages, but Jeffreys said he’s optimistic this could have a huge impact on Tri-State families.
“I know we have several rec centers where we do provide child care, others where we could potentially provide more child care,” Jeffreys said. “And so the assets are there to potentially leverage and I think as you bring the right people together, I’m confident that we’ll come out with some solutions that will really help families.”
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