Kiddie City Child Care Community in Euclid says it is scrambling to stay solvent after recent changes to how Ohio reimburses publicly funded childcare cut into the nonprofit’s budget. Executive director Dayna White says she has stopped taking a paycheck and has been relying on her own savings to keep staff paid and the bills covered as reimbursements lag. Parents who depend on the center have started organizing to raise awareness and help plug the growing financial holes.
Director Says She’s Working Without Pay
White, who has worked at Kiddie City since 2010 and became executive director in 2019, told News 5 Cleveland that reduced reimbursements, delayed payments and lost grants “make it hard to continue to operate,” adding, “I've held my salary and lived off my savings for over six months.”
The center, housed in the old Lincoln Elementary School building, serves infants through eighth grade and runs before and after school programs as well as a Faithful Scholars summer program, according to the nonprofit’s website. To blunt the immediate shortfall, Kiddie City has posted an appeal on the Charity Bridge Fund platform, which describes itself as a place that connects donors directly with nonprofits facing urgent gaps.
State Officials Flag Multi-Year Gaps
Kara Wente, director of the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, told reporters the department is trying to make the Publicly Funded Childcare program sustainable and warned of “several $100 million” holes in fiscal years 2028 and 2029, according to reporting by News 5 Cleveland. Wente said her agency is collecting data and talking with providers about what would ease administration and protect quality, but local directors say they need relief now if they are going to avoid staff cuts and shrinking programs.
Providers told reporters that recent reimbursement tweaks feel like a pay cut and have already forced difficult calls about operating hours and which services they can realistically keep offering.
Federal Cuts And A National 'Child Care Cliff'
Advocates point to the winding down of pandemic-era emergency supports, along with a recent federal funding freeze that has them warning of service disruptions in Ohio and across the country, as reported by WOSU Public Media. National analyses have dubbed the looming shortfall a “child care cliff” that could force thousands of program closures and remove millions of children from care unless one-time funds are replaced, according to research from The Century Foundation.
Parents Rally And Organizers Push For Action
Parents at Kiddie City say losing the center would upend their ability to work, with one mother telling reporters that “daycare should not be a burden for a parent.” Locally, providers joined a national Day Without Childcare action to show how closures would ripple through the broader workforce, according to coverage by Cleveland19.
White says she hopes lawmakers will come into the classrooms and see the work firsthand, even as she and families keep juggling fundraisers and cost-cutting in an effort to keep the doors open.
