Preschool development grant birth through five - ohio has targeted using its PDG b-5 funds on activities that impact all ohio children between birth and kindergarten entry or through age five

The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families awarded $14.751 million to the Ohio Department of Children and Youth on December 31, 2025, under the Preschool Development Grants Birth through Five program (CFDA 93.434) to develop a unified statewide early care and education system and establish infrastructure for research and data integration across Ohio's birth-through-age-five population.

During calendar year 2026, Ohio will review and update needs assessments and strategic plans within the early care and education system to develop a shared, comprehensive statewide vision and actionable implementation map; launch and advance eleven outcome strategies supporting program priorities; and track project impact and share information across the ECE system with parents and public stakeholders. The recipient will create an Early Care and Education Research and Impact Hub to standardize and streamline research and evidence across the system, maximize existing data collection efforts, and drive process and program improvements to sustain the work beyond the grant period.

The award covers the period from December 31, 2025, through December 30, 2026, with place of performance in Ohio. The Preschool Development Grants program assists states in assessing their statewide early childhood systems and service needs, developing strategic plans identifying statewide goals, and implementing system and service activities aligned with strategic plans to help low-income and disadvantaged children enter kindergarten prepared and ready to succeed.

Ohio Department of Children and Youth is passing funds to at least twenty-two sub-recipients awarded on July 1, 2026, all titled "Infant Early Childhood Mental Health" and performing work across multiple Ohio counties and regions. Sub-recipients include Mercy Health ST Vincent Medical Center LLC (Toledo), Unison Behavioral Health Group Inc. (Lucas County), Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital (Columbus), Hopewell Health Centers Inc. (Chillicothe, nine rural Appalachian counties), Stark County Mental Health & Addiction Recovery (Stark County), Greene County Educational Service Center, Harbor Inc. (Lucas County), OhioGuidestone (Berea), Crossroads Health (Lake County), Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health, Bellefaire Jewish Children's Bureau (Cleveland), Catholic Charities Corporation, Positive Education Program, Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio (Cincinnati), Catalyst/The Center for Individual and Family Services (Mansfield), Children's Resource Center (Bowling Green), Applewood Centers Inc., Achievement Centers for Children, Child Focus Inc. (Cincinnati), and Alta Care Group Inc.

Specifically, we have chosen activities that will help the state accelerate its movement toward a shared statewide vision for early care and education (ECE), a unified, coherent statewide early care and education system, and maximum family choice for ECE options. More specifically, during calendar year 2026, ohio will (1) review and update existing needs assessments and strategic plans within the ECE system to inform and develop a shared, comprehensive statewide vision and actionable map for early care and education; (2) launch and advance eleven outcome strategies that will support program priorities; and (3) track project impact and share information across the ECE system, including with parents and the public citizens of ohio. To track the impact of this project, ohio will create an ECE research and impact hub to maximize existing data collection efforts; standardize and streamline research and evidence on ECE so that research endeavors yield timely information to inform policies, procedures, and investments; and drive process and program improvements that sustain the work initiated through this opportunity for years to come.