4C for Children has received a $100,000 grant from the L&L Nippert Charitable Foundation to help local child care programs become quality rated. Grant funds will help Southwest Ohio child care providers involved in 4C’s Ramp Up For Quality program receive the training and coaching necessary to achieve an Ohio Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) rating.
Ramp Up For Quality is designed to significantly increase the number of SUTQ-rated child care programs by 2020. The goal is to level the playing field so that every child receives quality care and early learning that enables them to enter kindergarten ready to succeed. Child care providers who are not rated by the 2020 deadline will no longer be eligible to serve children and families on child care voucher assistance.
Today, there are more than 800 unrated child care providers in Southwest Ohio who care for more than 11,000 vulnerable children who live below the federal poverty level.
Ramp Up For Quality was launched in response to a mandate by the state of Ohio that all child care providers accepting state funding to provide child care to low-income families be SUTQ rated by June 30, 2020. SUTQ is a five-star rating scale that recognizes early education and child care programs that exceed minimum health and safety standards and promote children’s learning and development.
“We are so grateful to the L&L Nippert Charitable Foundation for helping fund this critical work in our community,” says Vanessa Freytag, president and CEO of 4C for Children.
“Unless we are able to dramatically increase the number of rated child care programs, our community is facing a dramatic child care shortage for families living in poverty. This funding will help 4C recruit child care professionals and provide them with the necessary training to improve the quality of care and early education in their programs.”