MOUNT VERNON — It not only takes a village to raise and educate children — but a truckload of behind-the-scenes resources to keep the village running.
The Ohio Department of Children and Youth recently dubbed Absolutely Loved Learning Center a gold standard facility just before the center unveiled an addition at 1200 W. Chestnut St.
Despite these on-paper wins, the center’s director, Dana Zeigler, said there are several challenges facing the facility that relate to DCY’s new standard system.
DCY took over children services responsibilities from the Department of Education and Workforce, the Department of Health, the Department of Job and Family Services and the Department of Developmental Disabilities on Jan. 2, 2025.
Before DCY implemented the change, officials rated child care facilities on a star system.
Now, officials rate centers on a three-tier system: gold, silver and bronze.
Child care providers were able to apply for grants to fund software management systems like BrightWheel or Procare — that is not the case anymore.
“DCY began providing access to the Brightwheel Child Care Management System for all licensed child care providers in spring 2024,” DCY Chief Communications Officer Jodi Norton said.
“It was not a service provided to child care providers through ODJFS prior to the creation of DCY.”
“Because of funding changes related to DCY’s Preschool Development Grant, DCY ended its contract for this service on December 31, 2025. DCY notified providers of this change in January but extended free access for an additional six months – until June 30, 2026.”
The State of Ohio offers Teaching Strategies for the curriculum requirement at no added cost to centers. But in an industry where every dollar counts, additional hoops to jump through can be cumbersome.
“It’s important to note that family child care providers may continue use of the service for curriculums through DCY’s free subscription at no cost to them even beyond June 30, 2026,” Norton added.
Ohio’s Step Up To Quality standard
“Step Up to Quality is a three-tier quality rating and improvement system for Ohio’s early care and education programs,” DCY’s website states.
“SUTQ recognizes and promotes programs that meet and exceed quality program standards. SUTQ program standards are based on national research identifying indicators which lead to improved outcomes for children.”
The quality rating and improvement system is optional, but providers must participate if they serve children whose families receive government child care assistance.
Centers that achieve higher tiers within SUTQ are able to charge a higher weekly rate.
For example, the weekly payment rate for a Category Three full-time provider working in a school-age center that does not participate in SUTQ is $165.
A gold standard center in all the same categories, the weekly payment rate increases 25 percent to $206.25.
To read a full breakdown of the different SUTQ tiers, check out the Ohio Register link below. Knox County is listed under Category Three.
While this may seem like a benefit for child care centers that rise through the tiers, Zeigler said there are some drawbacks.
“Now that [the Absolutely Loved Learning Center] is rated, if I change my pricing to match the gold-rated standard — that’s another problem for families,” Zeigler said.
“If I change my pricing to match the gold pricing standard, I don’t know if my private families can afford the rate.”
“We would get paid from our state-funded kids, I want to say, almost with no worry. But then what happens to our private pay families? Because most centers think of both.”
State-funded families fall under Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and there are two key challenges that come with this.
State regulation says that centers cannot have a higher rate for state-funded families and a rate for private-pay families, Zeigler said.
“It has to be one standard billing system, and you have to accept payment for either group,” Zeigler said.
Centers that do not partake in SUTQ are not eligible to provide care to state-funded families thus losing a financial piece to their business, the center director continued.
From provisionary to gold standard
Zeigler purchased the Absolutely Loved Learning Center two years ago. At that time, the state rated the center five stars.
When she made the purchase, the previous owners told Zeigler she could move the license into her name and retain the high-quality rating.
That didn’t happen.
“The State of Ohio said, ‘No, we’re not sliding it over. We’ve done that in the past, but that’s done, and this was two years ago,'” Zeigler said.
“You now have to create a new name and you have to get your own license number. Once you get a new license number, you’re in what’s called the provisionary year.”
Once a center completes its provisional year, it can apply for a rating.
The added kicker to this? Centers are still able to serve state-funded families, but a significantly lower reimbursement rate than the gold-rated standard.
So, in essence, Zeigler came in and had to serve the same folks but with fewer resources for a year, even though the center was at the highest level before she took over.
“The difference between an infant rate at the provisionary budget and the gold rate is about $1,200 a month,” she said.
“That’s a lot, and you have to weigh it out as a as a center director. Are you going to go with quality or quantity?”
“That’s a lot of money for the private pay families who are just making ends meet. But then the center is really making ends meet. We’re paycheck to paycheck living right now, too.”
Software management system strife
Centers can only achieve the aforementioned SUTQ tiers if they have a software management system and a curriculum in place.
Zeigler’s center currently uses BrightWheel for its software management needs, but pays for the system with a state-funded grant.
This grant expires (and will not be available again) on June 1, 2026, tacking on another unforeseen expense to Zeigler’s plate.
These software management systems are vital for day-to-day operations at child care centers.
Zeigler said it tracks the center’s hourly rates and staff payroll, allows for communication with parents, has scheduling abilities and serves as the staff’s way to clock in and out.
The key part of the need for a software management tool is hourly rates.
“What the state used to consider part-time care was 25 hours. Now this year, the state changed part-time to 32.9 hours,” Zeigler said.
“When somebody calls in and says, ‘I’d like to know about child care,’ you have to ask all these questions. You have to make sure you’re clear with them.”
“‘Well, here’s our billing. Yes, we charge $209 for part-time care for infants. But, how many hours are there going to be here? Because if they’re here, less than 10, now we have to do an hourly bill, because the state says that.'”
“[The state] never had an hourly rate before.”
Due to this new hourly rate in place, Zeigler said it is necessary to have a software management system.
“There’s no way to calculate all these things and track all these things without the software,” she said.
In other words, centers have to have software management to fulfill this new hourly rate piece and be eligible for SUTQ, which in turn leads to higher weekly rates and the ability to serve state-funded families.
Software management prices & required curriculum
After researching and talking with representatives from BrightWheel and Procare, Zeigler said she was able to get a $79 per-month rate for BrightWheel’s software.
But since the state used to cover this cost and covers the Teaching Strategies curriculum (which are both required for SUTQ), Zeigler said it is challenging.
Zeigler said there are groups out there that invest money into other curriculums because they think other options better prepare children for Kindergarten compared to Teaching Strategies.
The alternative? Stay independent and accept what the state offers.
“I’m kind of independent, and I do want what the state provides,” Zeigler said.
“I feel fully confident that our group is fully ready for kindergarten, but we do use the Teaching Strategies curriculum, and that is provided free to us, but we do utilize it.”
For a cherry on top to the confusion sundae, Teaching Strategies offers the same software management as companies like BrightWheel and Procare.
But Zeigler said it best, “Everything is extra.”