Ohio's Special Needs Enhanced Payment Rate: Supporting Children. Empowering Programs. Strengthening Families.
By Nicole Goudy, Human Services Manager, Policy Division, Ohio Department of Children and Youth
For families of children with significant developmental, behavioral, medical, or physical needs, accessing high-quality early care and education can be challenging. Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive in a safe, supportive environment where their individual needs can be successfully met.
Meaningful inclusion is about more than enrollment. When a program is unable to provide the level of care a child requires, the child may not be able to fully participate, build relationships, or reach their full potential. Without the appropriate staffing, accommodations, and resources, even the strongest commitment to inclusion can fall short.
Ohio addresses these challenges through the Publicly Funded Child Care Special Needs Enhanced Payment Rate. While this program has existed for many years, the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) has updated the definition of “special needs child care” and redesigned the DCY 01231 “Request for Payment Rate for Special Needs Child Care,” effective August 1, 2026, to better ensure this important resource reaches children with the highest levels of need.
What is the Special Needs Enhanced Payment Rate?
Ohio's Special Needs Enhanced Payment Rate provides additional reimbursement to publicly funded child care programs (PFCC) that care for children whose documented needs require regular and ongoing adaptations or specialized daily support that significantly increase the level of care required.
Eligible programs receive an enhanced reimbursement rate equal to twice the publicly funded child care payment rate they currently receive for that child. This enhancement is intended to help offset costs associated with providing additional staff or lowered ratios that may be required to effectively meet the child’s needs.
The goal is not simply to recognize a child's diagnosis, but to support the additional care required to help that child safely and successfully participate in an early care and education environment alongside their peers.
Building Awareness
Many early care and education programs, and even more families are unaware that the Special Needs Enhanced Payment Rate exists. Even among those familiar with the program, there can be uncertainty about its purpose, eligibility requirements of the child and the program, and the types of support it is intended to reimburse. Increasing awareness of this important resource is essential to expanding access to high-quality, inclusive early care and education across Ohio.
Why Were Changes Made?
At the heart of the Special Needs Enhanced Payment Rate is a simple goal: ensuring children with the most significant needs can access high-quality early care and education in programs equipped to support them.
Eligibility is based on two equally important components:
The child has documented needs that require a significantly increased level of care.
The program is actively providing ongoing accommodation and/or specialized support that creates additional operating expenses.
The guiding questions throughout the application should always remain:
What are the child's documented needs that impact the program?
How is the program accommodating those needs, and what additional costs are incurred as a result?
One without the other does not meet the intent of the program.
The enhanced payment rate was never intended to be based solely on a diagnosis or mild developmental delay. Instead, it is designed to support situations where both the child's needs and the program's accommodations significantly increase the level and cost of care.
The updated definition and redesigned application better align the enhanced payment rate with its original purpose while providing clearer guidance for families and providers.
What is Changing?
The definition of “special needs child care” has been updated to provide clearer guidance on the severity of the child’s needs, the level of care required to support those needs, and emphasize that supporting these needs must create a measurable cost impact on the program.
The DCY 01231 “Request for Payment Rate for Special Needs Child Care” has been redesigned with families and providers in mind. Updates include:
Clearer guidance and updated questions make it easier for providers to understand the eligibility requirements and provide the information needed for DCY to determine eligibility.
Families now have the opportunity not only to identify their child's diagnosis but also to describe their child's individual needs in greater detail and to acknowledge the accommodations the program provides for their child.
This collaborative approach helps ensure that families and providers work together to support the child's success within the early care and education setting.
Beginning with applications submitted after the rule becomes effective in August 2026, programs seeking the enhanced payment rate must demonstrate that:
The child's needs are documented by a licensed professional.
The child requires regular and ongoing adaptations and/or daily specialized support while in the early care and education program.
Those supports significantly increase the level of care provided.
The program incurs ongoing additional expenses because of the increased level of care that is required.
The program maintains an active Ohio PROMISE Program Designation (OPPD), renewed annually.
Why Ohio PROMISE?
The Ohio PROMISE Program Designation is more than an eligibility requirement. It reflects a program's commitment to providing high-quality, inclusive care for children with special needs and severe developmental differences.
Through training, technical assistance, and ongoing professional development, Ohio PROMISE helps programs build the knowledge and skills needed to successfully support children with significant needs. These efforts strengthen the entire early childhood community, offering important support for families, programs, and the children they serve.
Programs benefit by strengthening staff capacity, receiving technical assistance, and being recognized for their commitment to inclusive practices.
Families gain confidence that their child is enrolled in a program committed to understanding and supporting their individual needs.
Children benefit from environments that are better prepared to provide individualized support, foster belonging, and promote positive developmental outcomes.
Together, the enhanced payment rate and Ohio PROMISE create a stronger system of support. The enhanced payment rate helps offset the additional costs of providing individualized care, while Ohio PROMISE helps ensure programs have the training, resources, and inclusive practices needed to provide that care successfully.
What Makes a Strong Application?
Successful applications tell the complete story of both the child's needs and the program's response to those needs. The strongest applications clearly explain:
The child's individualized needs and their impact on the program.
The accommodation and/or specialized support provided.
How those supports increase the level of care.
The ongoing additional expenses incurred by the program.
Applications should focus on the child's functional needs within the early care and education setting—not simply the diagnosis—and clearly demonstrate how the supports provided create additional costs for the program
Looking Ahead
Every child deserves the opportunity to participate in an early care and education environment where they are safe, supported, and able to thrive. The updates to Ohio's Special Needs Enhanced Payment Rate are designed to better align resources with children whose needs require a significantly increased level of care while strengthening the ability of programs to provide meaningful, inclusive services.
By combining enhanced financial support with the training and resources offered through Ohio PROMISE, Ohio is investing in children, families, and providers. Together, these efforts help expand access to high-quality early care and education, strengthen inclusive practices across the state, and ensure more children with significant support needs have the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed.
Learn more during our July webinar, Supporting Access for Children with Disabilities to Child Care: Understanding Enhanced Rates and Ohio PROMISE. Visit our Webinars page for details!