On behalf of The Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY),
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) will issue an
opportunity to counties to participate in the Child Care Choice Voucher Eligibility program.
This program will be effective April 29, 2024.
The County Departments of Job and
Family Services (CDJFS) will be eligible for funding by supporting the new
program. There are two opportunities for
which a CDJFS may receive funding: the first opportunity will be available in
SFY24 and the second opportunity will be available in SFY25.
1.Training: The CDJFS will be responsible for
determining program eligibility based off the publicly funded childcare
application in Ohio Benefits. Training
for this additional eligibility process will be held on Wednesday, April 24,
2024, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, during the regularly scheduled monthly
county childcare meeting. All counties are urged to take part in this
training. Your county representative for the training does not need to be
an agency director but will need to check in online to receive the training
stipend. Due to the tight timeframes, there will not be an additional
training option for this program and no payments can be provided to agencies
that do not take part in this training. If you, or a team member would like added to this meeting please
email: nicole.goudy@childrenandyouth.ohio.gov
CDJFSs that complete the training on April 24, 2024, will
receive a one-time payment based on the category types assigned below (where an
agency encompasses multiple counties, each CDJFS will receive the base amount
for each county represented):
|
Category
|
# of Counties
|
Amount
|
Total
|
Counties
|
|
X Large
|
3
|
$100,000.00
|
$300,000.00
|
Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton
|
|
Large
|
6
|
$75,000.00
|
$450,000.00
|
Butler, Lorain, Lucas, Montgomery, Stark, Summit,
|
|
Medium
|
18
|
$50,000.00
|
$900,000.00
|
Allen, Clark, Clermont, Columbiana, Delaware, Fairfield,
Greene, Lake, Licking, Mahoning, Medina, Miami, Portage, Richland, Trumbull,
Warren, Wood, Wayne
|
|
Small
|
61
|
$25,000.00
|
$1,525,000.00
|
All Other Counties
|
|
Total
|
88
|
|
$3,175,000.00
|
|
2.Incentive
Payment: Additionally, to encourage agencies to process applications as
quickly as possible an application timeliness incentive payment will be issued
and determined at the end of October.
There will be two type of incentive awards:
1.Most
Improved:
In each category (X-large/Large, Medium and Small), the most
improved CDJFS will be determined. DCY
staff will review applications received from April 2024 to October 2024 for
timeliness compared to the prior six months.
The CDJFS achieving at least 90% application timeliness with the most
improvement will earn the incentive as outlined below. If a tie occurs the
payment will be split.
2.Best
Application Timeliness: In each category (X-large/Large, Medium
and Small), the CDJFS with the highest overall application timeliness rate
between April 2024 and October 2024 will earn, or share if multiple CDJFS tie,
the incentive as outlined below.
Please note that in table 2 below, for the incentive payments
the X-Large and Large CDJFS will be combined:
|
Categories
|
Amounts
|
Awards
|
Total
|
|
XL/L
|
$200,000
|
2
|
$400,000
|
|
M
|
$100,000
|
2
|
$200,000
|
|
S
|
$50,000
|
2
|
$100,000
|
|
Grand Total
|
|
|
$700,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
Program details are as outlined in DCY guidance letter 24-011
Division of Training & Technical Assistance.
Both training and incentives payments are available as cash and
considered earned at the time of receipt. There are no further restrictions on
the use of the funding and it will not be considered federal funds but
"local dollars”.
All payments will be issued through the Ohio Department of Job
and Family Services County Finance Allocation process.
For
questions regarding fiscal reporting please contact your ODJFS Fiscal
Supervisor or the CFIS Helpdesk at CFIS_HELP_DESK@jfs.ohio.gov.
For program questions please contact Help-Desk-OCF@childrenandyouth.ohio.gov.