Blog | March 15, 2022

Ohio Law Enforcement Leader and Lawmaker Tour High-Quality Child Care Center

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids member Sheriff Wasylyshyn and Senator Theresa Gavarone participated in a Cops & Tots event at All About The Kids Learning Center, LLC

On March 11, 2022, Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn and Senator Theresa Gavarone (R-Huron) participated in a Cops & Tots child care reading event at All About The Kids Learning Center, LLC. The purpose of the event was to highlight the importance of quality rated early child care programs and their impact on infants, toddlers, and children. The event is part of an ongoing series of statewide early learning reading events by law enforcement leaders who are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Ohio.

Senator Gavarone received the Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Ohio Champion for Kids Award for her support of historic investments in early care and education programs provided to residents in her district.

Sheriff Wasylyshyn and Senator Theresa Gavarone

Research has consistently shown that children can reap powerful benefits from high-quality early childhood education. For example, a study of the Chicago Child-Parent Centers examined school readiness programs provided to preschoolers from some of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods. The study showed that kids who did not receive quality early learning programs were 70 percent more likely to have been arrested for a violent crime by age 18. By age 24, the now-young adults who were in the Child-Parent Center program as children were 20 percent less likely to have served time in jail.

Quality early learning programs also save money. A well-respected independent cost-benefit analysis of nearly 20 different studies showed that pre-K can, on average, return a “profit” (economic benefits minus cost) to society of nearly $27,000 for every child served.

Ohio has made significant progress on increasing quality options for child care programming throughout the state. Elected officials have prioritized funding for early education in recent years which is now available to families at 148% of the federal poverty level (FPL).

Working parents need a quality child care environment. In fact, 83 percent of millennials say they would leave their current job for one with family friendly benefits. The average cost for quality center-based child care is $10,000 and nearly one in three families are spending 20% of their annual household income on child care.

Sheriff Wasylyshyn and Senator Theresa Gavarone

“Ohio’s law enforcement leaders and members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids thank Senator Gavarone, Governor DeWine and the state legislature for prioritizing Ohio’s most vulnerable infants, toddlers, and children in the state budget,” said Mark Wasylyshyn, Wood County Sheriff. “Increasing access to high quality early care and education programs is an important first step in reducing crime and giving all children a fair chance to succeed in life.”

“I saw the positive effects that quality early childhood programs had on each of my three children, and that experience led to me being a strong advocate in the Ohio Legislature,” Gavarone said. “I am honored to receive this award and look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues and law enforcement officers, like Sheriff Wasylyshyn, on ways we can reduce crime and improve the lives of Ohio’s children.”

States

  1. Ohio*