Ohio PROMISE helps child care providers open doors for children with special needs

MANSFIELD — When a child struggles to speak, it can cause them to grow restless and frustrated when they’re unable to communicate their needs. 

Situations like that are common in preschool settings, but at Madison Early Childhood Learning Center, staff are learning new strategies to help children express themselves. 

“We have posters up with sign language showing how to translate what they may need, if they are not able to vocally share it,” said Lindi Holfinger, director of Madison Early Childhood Learning Center.

Staff at Madison ECLC have learned strategies like this through Ohio PROMISE, a state initiative launched in 2023 to help children with disabilities, their families and the early childhood educators that support them.

The initiative offers training and credentials for individual child care workers as well as an inclusive child care program designation for centers that meet certain requirements.

Jodi Norton Trimble, chief communications officer of Ohio Department of Children and Youth, said the agency sees too many instances where parents struggle to access affordable and high quality early care and education.

One of the agency’s goals for Ohio PROMISE is to support professional development for early care and education professionals so they feel equipped and confident to support any child.

“Our aim is that every child in Ohio has access to places and spaces where they can learn and play alongside their peers,” she said.

Many families with special needs children struggle to find adequate care

Lindi Holfinger became director of Madison Early Childhood Learning Center two years ago after two decades at Head Start, a program that serves low income families and children with disabilities.

Her own experience as a mother also gave her a deep awareness of the challenges many children face before they even enter preschool.

“I have children who have had needs in the past, so I know how that feels,” she said. “That’s part of why this work matters to me.”

Holfinger said children who don’t receive the referrals and services they need during their first few years sometimes struggle when they enter preschool.

That’s why she sought to have Madison ECLC become a designated Ohio PROMISE Program shortly after she became director.

For Holfinger, the initiative’s focus on early identification and inclusive care aligned perfectly with what she was already seeing in her classrooms — and in the community.

“So many families struggle to find care for their children when they are diagnosed on the spectrum, have ADHD or are simply not potty trained at preschool,” she said.

“The earlier we identify children and provide accommodations and services, the more successful they will be.”

Ohio PROMISE at Madison ECLC

In order for MECLC to hold Ohio PROMISE designation, Holfinger said she and one other staff member must hold the individual credential under Ohio PROMISE, which they renew each year. 

However, Holfinger said she has implemented two professional development days a week so the entire staff can earn the accreditation.

Even with extra training, providing child care to youngsters with disabilities isn’t always easy. One of the struggles the center continues to navigate, Holfinger said, is how many children with special needs rely on consistent relationships.

“A lot of our kids are relationship-based in how they respond,” she said. “They don’t do well with strangers.”

“Also, understanding how to fully meet the needs of the children,” Holfinger added. “Inclusion means children with any special needs, but what we see the most are behavioral needs.”

Some of the biggest behavioral needs teachers consistently see are sensory needs and activity needs. The center has used grant money to purchase weighted animals, spinning chairs, rocking chairs, fidget toys and more. 

They have also transformed a classroom into a gross motor movement room for toddlers so they can move freely during the colder months.

Parent said extra staff training helped her son succeed

For parents like Leaziza Price, the Ohio PROMISE designation at Madison ECLC has been more than a credential — it’s been a lifeline.

She enrolled her twin sons, including three-year-old Zymir, at Madison ECLC five months ago. In that short time, she says the change in Zymir’s behavior and comfort level has been remarkable.

“I chose to send my child to Madison ECLC because I heard great things about it and felt he would do well there — especially since the staff has proper training,” she said. “I do feel like the Ohio PROMISE program has boosted his experience.”

Before coming to Madison, finding child care accommodating to her son’s behavioral needs was a challenge, she said.

“I couldn’t find a center with staff trained to deal with his behaviors,” she said. “That made things really hard.”

Now, she says, those challenges have turned into opportunities for growth — both for her child and her family.

“When he first started, he had trouble self-regulating when he became upset,” she said. “But through the work and plans the teachers have put in place, he’s made so much progress. Now he does so well with it that there isn’t much issue at all.”

Self-regulating means a child can calm themselves down when they get upset — without an adult’s help. Children with sensory needs often do this through stimming, which includes repetitive movements such as hand flapping, rocking, finger tapping or humming.

The program’s emphasis on professional development and inclusion has also shaped how Madison ECLC’s staff interact with each child individually — something Price said she sees making a difference every day.

“The staff interaction with him means the most,” she said. “He has great relationships with his teacher, Rayann, and with Lindi, Kimberlee and Courtney. They know what works best for him — sometimes that means giving hugs and talking through things and sometimes it means letting him calm down on his own.”

She says the support from the Ohio PROMISE framework goes beyond the classroom.

“Communication has been amazing,” she said. “When he first joined, they helped him by providing one-on-one support until he learned self-regulation. Now he doesn’t even need it anymore.”

The flexibility Madison ECLC offered — including easing him in with half-days — also stood out.

“That showed me how much the staff and the program care,” she said. “They helped come up with a plan to make him comfortable and that means everything.”

To Price, Ohio PROMISE isn’t just about training or accreditation, it is about trust.

It means so much knowing my son can have the proper support when I am not around.

Leaziza Price, mother of Zymir

“This program really helps children succeed even when their parents can’t be there. It provides a safe, nurturing environment with trained staff who focus on emotional, social and physical development,” she said.

“It means so much knowing my son can have the proper support when I am not around,” Price said.

If she could tell policymakers one thing, it would be to keep investing in programs like this one.

“I would want them to understand how much this helps families,” she said. “When staff are trained and supported, children thrive.”

Looking ahead, she said she sees Ohio PROMISE as part of her child’s long-term success story.

“When I think about his future, I know this program will have played a huge role in it,” she said. “The support it provides goes a long way.”

Nicole Leming, has three children enrolled at Madison ECLC.

Improvement with their behavior and overall academic learning stands out the most when Leming reflects on her children’s experience.

“Not many childcare programs were equipped to safely manage problematic behaviors a child with autism may display,” she said.

Ohio PROMISE offers free training, but only a fraction of providers participate

There are three levels of professional credentials under Ohio PROMISE — aware, knowledgeable and advanced.

Child care workers complete the credentialing process by watching instructional videos, reading scenario-based materials, learning the basics of inclusion for children with special needs and taking tests/quizzes based on those materials.

The three levels of specialized training take 20 hours to complete. The training is free, self-guided and on-demand online.

But a statewide list of licensed child care providers indicates few providers are taking advantage of the program. 

Currently, there are two providers in Knox County, one in Ashland County and one Richland County with the accreditation.

Jodi Norton Trimble from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth said there are currently more than 5,000 professionals who have completed the first level of training.

Meanwhile, the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment estimates that Ohio’s workforce of early childhood educators is about 58,600 people.

According to an Impact Brief from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, Ohio PROGRAM Designated programs have served 425 children with disabilities.

The same brief stated there are around 2,005 children with a disability receiving publicly funded child care in Ohio — a figure that doesn’t even include special needs children from private pay families.

“We measure success by reach, access and fewer obstacles to care for families,” said Trimble. “We want to see families accessing publicly funded child care for which they are eligible, so they can return or stay in the workforce.”

Trimble stated they are always looking for ways to expand the program.

Providing incentives for programs and providers, expanding their reach and impact, encouraging providers to keep their designations current and promoting service more broadly to help more families are just a few ideas she shared for improving the program.

Each child in Ohio deserves to learn where they can live and grow alongside their peers, she said, this can only happen when skilled and caring professionals are supporting their development.

Trimble said another challenge the agency has encountered is keeping the content fresh and relevant.

“Not only is this good for professionals feeling confident to care for children, programs can market themselves to families and access additional funding opportunities to serve children with greater needs,” she said.

She noted the program works best for those who see a need and want to be a part of the solution.

“We believe every Ohio child is deserving of an early education that is supportive of growth and development when his brain architecture is being built,” Trimble said.

“We have a small window of time in the lives of our children to get it right and set them on a trajectory of greatest potential success,” Trimble said. “In addition, every parent deserves to feel like their child is important, valued and deserving of a quality education.”

(Photos from Madison Early Childhood Learning Center. Credit: Hannah Martin)