Learn to Earn Dayton Announces Launch of Ohio Fiscal Map

For the past year, Learn to Earn Dayton has partnered with Children’s Funding Project to develop a fiscal map for the state. The fiscal map documents and analyzes the various sources of funding that support programs and services for children and youth in Ohio. The map includes public dollars from federal and state sources and will aid state policymakers, regional partnerships, and advocates alike as it provides the first comprehensive view of existing funding streams. 

The Ohio fiscal map, which is available to the public, is accessed through a web-based dashboard. Through the dashboard a user can explore trends in funding amounts from fiscal years 2019 to 2023, the breakdown of where funding originates, and details of individual funding streams included in the fiscal map. Users can also search the nearly 500 unique funding streams by type of service or program, age range, funding level, and outcome category. Finally, the map provides a comparison of funding dedicated to children and youth versus state funding for other programs.

“The new Ohio fiscal map we’ve developed in partnership with Children’s Funding Project  represents a commitment to both fiscal responsibility and data-driven decision-making,” said Learn to Earn Dayton CEO Stacy Schweikhart. “It provides unprecedented clarity and access to details on funding streams for children and youth, enabling us to move beyond simply dedicating funds and instead focus on getting the greatest return on investment. This tool is about making sure that every dollar is invested strategically and efficiently to deliver the positive outcomes our students and families deserve.”

Children’s Funding Project is a nonprofit social impact organization that helps communities, states, and Native nations expand equitable opportunities for children and youth through strategic public financing. By the end of this year, Children’s Funding Project will have created cradle-to-career fiscal maps for 23 states around the country, utilizing a standard data collection and reporting process. Children’s Funding Project aims to complete maps for all 50 states by the end of 2028, aiding state-level advocates and allowing for cross-state comparisons. This statewide work is made possible by an investment from StriveTogether. 

“Budgets are moral documents. Budgets are publicly available documents. But budgets are not easy to read,” said Amelia Vaughn, senior director of fiscal data infrastructure at Children’s Funding Project. “Children and youth fiscal maps examine the full amount of funding for children and youth in each state and make that data easy to decipher for improved decision-making, advocacy, and policymaking. Our goal is to embed fiscal maps as a piece of data infrastructure in each state, keeping them up to date over time so they are relevant and can track trends in funding over time.”

Nat Mudd Brooks, Amelia Vaughn, and other representatives of Children’s Funding Project’s fiscal mapping partner organization, Learn to Earn Dayton, will lead a webinar about the Ohio Children and Youth Fiscal Map on Tuesday, October 21 at 11 AM. You can register for the webinar at this link.