Lawmakers urge Taft to ease requirements

More than 3,500 enrollments will have to happen by March 1 to reach a goal.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Gov. Bob Taft has scaled back two eligibility requirements and set a March 1 deadline for enrolling thousands of additional pupils in a preschool program for poor children in the state's second attempt at revamping Head Start.
The program, known as the Early Learning Initiative, was set up to accommodate 10,000 youngsters this year. Only about two-thirds of the slots have been filled, which some lawmakers attribute to strict eligibility rules and a difficult enrollment process.
In a recent letter to Taft, 20 legislators who represent residents in the 29 Appalachian counties in southern and eastern Ohio urged the governor to make changes to the program, such as removing work requirements.
Sen. Joy Padgett, a Republican from Coshocton who helped draft the letter, said the legislators were concerned when they heard that several counties were planning to drop the program.
"My concern is that there are all these children that are not being served," she said.
What's required
To qualify for the program, a child's family must earn no more than 185 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $36,000 for a family of four, and the parents must work. Those on welfare must work or participate in a job-training program.
In response to the Appalachian lawmakers, Taft modified the early learning program's requirements to allow two-parent families with just one parent working to qualify and extended eligibility to any child on welfare not living with a parent.
More than 3,500 pupils will have to enroll by March 1 to meet the governor's target of 10,000. In contrast, about 23,000 preschoolers from low-income families were enrolled in state-funded Head Start in 1999.
The Early Learning Initiative is paid for by the Department of Job and Family Services with federal welfare dollars. The program replaced Taft's Head Start Plus program, which was phased out in June after filling about half the slots available in a year. Taft proposed the program in 2003 to cut the amount the state spent on child care, which was increasing by 20 percent a year.
Sen. Charlie Wilson, a Democrat from Bridgeport, said the requirement that both parents work hurt children because they would no longer qualify if one parent lost his or her job.
"I think part of what we need to do is realize that poor kids don't always have the best criteria to work from," Wilson said.
Trying to work out kinks
Taft spokesman Mark Rickel said the agencies that oversee the program and the governor's office are continually looking at enrollment and trying to find ways to make the program more flexible, while meeting federal requirements for using welfare funds.
Padgett said another change that will make the program easier for families is that they will now be able to submit applications to educational providers instead of to the Department of Job and Family Services.
The providers can then check over paperwork and make sure all the necessary documents are included before forwarding them to the state, Padgett said.
"If everybody would just focus on what's best for the kids, we could get this job accomplished," she said.
Wilson said the rules changes will help, but he doesn't think they will allow the program to reach the goal of 10,000 preschool kids by March. He said he and other lawmakers will continue to work toward finding solutions in the new year.