By Cindi Andrews
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Thousands of working Ohioans just above the poverty line are about to lose the aid that enables them to keep their children in day care.

The eligibility requirement for child care vouchers will change from 185 percent of poverty to 150 percent - or $22,536 for a family of three - beginning in June, according to the state Department of Job and Family Services. The state estimates it'll affect 15,000 of the 102,000 Ohio children going to day care on vouchers.

WHAT TO DO

The state Department of Job and Family Services is sending letters to families that may lose eligibility for vouchers by Oct. 1. Some options: Check with your county department of Job and Family Services for eligibility for food stamps, housing assistance and other aid to help stretch the family budget, said Barbara Riley, deputy director of the state department. Contact 4C, a child care information agency, for a list of less-expensive providers, 4C Director Sallie Westheimer said. Home-based care is often less expensive than larger day care centers, she said. 4C's phone number is 221-0033, and its Web site is www.4c-cinci.org. The agency also hands out some child care aid from the United Way and the city of Cincinnati, but its annual allotment is usually committed by January, she said. Call, write or e-mail your state lawmakers to encourage them to include more child care money in the 2004-05 state budget, Westheimer said.

"I'm going to have no choice but to quit my job and go on welfare if I lose my day care vouchers," said Alicia Ehrhart, 20, of Mount Airy. She pays $55 every two weeks to keep daughter Sierra, 2, in a home-based day care while she goes to her data entry job. That cost would jump to about $180 every two weeks without vouchers, she said.

The change is a cost-cutting measure for the state, which continues to grapple with a budget crisis. Other states are resorting to similar measures.

"If I could wave a magic wand and manufacture $260 million for child care, I wouldn't cut it," said Barbara Riley, deputy director of Ohio Job and Family Services.

Ohio is reneging on promises made during welfare reform, said Susan Stai-Zureick, executive director of child development services for the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati.

"They don't understand that child care is an essential service like medical care or transportation," Stai-Zureick said. "We made an agreement. We said, 'If you go to work, we'll pay for your child care.' And now we're saying, 'Oops, we changed our minds.'"

Part of the problem, Riley said, is that the vouchers have been so popular. Ohio's cost has risen by more than 20 percent each of the past three years, to $454 million in fiscal year 2002, according to her department. Riley attributed the rise not only to a poor economy but also to a growing awareness that child care aid is available.

The new requirements will go into effect June 9 for new applicants and Oct. 1 for families already receiving vouchers. Hamilton County estimates 2,504 families - almost a third of those receiving vouchers - will lose them, and Butler County puts its loss at 234 families, 22 percent of its roster. (Information was not available on Warren and Clermont counties.)

The families that still get vouchers will have to shoulder a bigger share of their child care costs. Instead of a sliding scale based on income, they will have to pay almost 10 percent of their gross monthly income, according to Hamilton County's Department of Job and Family Services.

About 75 percent of those who get vouchers are working parents, the agency said, and the rest are current or recent welfare recipients.

"These are people who are getting on their feet, and it pulls the rug out from under them," said Sallie Westheimer, director of 4C, a Greater Cincinnati child care information service.

The cuts also will hurt child care providers, who are already operating on a thin margin, both Westheimer and Stai-Zureick said.

"If you lose 10 or 15 or 20 percent of your enrolled children, it will be very difficult to pay your bills," Stai-Zureick said. "It's very likely that child care centers will be closing in the next six months."

E-mail candrews@enquirer.com