DeWine's 2024 State of the State address focused on Ohio’s future and Ohio’s children.
OHIO, USA — Improving access to child care and health care for children form core elements of Gov. Mike DeWine’s agenda in 2024.
He also wants to start measuring how many Ohio college graduates get a job within six months. And he wants to ensure every child who needs eyeglasses can get them.You can read DeWine's full State of the State address below. You can also watch the speech on the WBNS-10TV YouTube channel. I want to talk today about Ohio’s children.
Kids have only one chance to grow up. So, we must have a great sense of urgency, as every moment we waste is a moment they lose. During a visit to Northridge Elementary School in Dayton last spring, Superintendent Dave Jackson shared with us how they have used data to measure the effectiveness of their reading instruction.
So today, I am calling on every college and university President in Ohio -- every Provost, every Dean of a College of Education -- to immediately align their teacher training programs with what we know works -- and that -- that is the Science of Reading. I want to talk for a moment about early childhood education, which lays the foundation for a child’s future success in kindergarten and throughout their primary education.
Not only that, we will also be re-allocating federal funding to dedicate $85 million to create new “Childcare Access Grants” to improve and expand existing childcare facilities. I would like to take a moment to thank all teachers in Ohio. In the Gallery with us today are Ohio’s 2024 Teachers of the Year. Will you please stand, so we can give them a round of applause!
Fran and I want for all kids what we want for our own children and grandchildren -- and now our great-granddaughter -- and that is for them to find something they are deeply passionate about and that they can pursue as a career. For many Ohio students, they find their passion and pathway through career tech.
I want to thank the Members of the General Assembly for helping us to enable more Ohio kids to go to college in Ohio -- and to stay in Ohio to fulfill their dreams! Since 2019, we have successfully persuaded all 14 public universities in Ohio to provide four-year tuition and room and board guarantees so that no Ohio family will experience an increase in college costs once their child starts...
We used to look at how many students started college. In 2013, we changed that and started holding colleges accountable for the number of those who actually graduate. It is wrong that in the third decade of the 21st Century, tens of thousands of kids in Ohio who need eyeglasses are simply not getting them.
A number of Ohio schools have partnered with hospitals or other providers to bring primary care inside the school building for the benefit of the children and the adult’s in the community. Less than three miles from here, for example, Nationwide Children’s Hospital is serving the youth at East High School inside their school building. Thanks to a clinic right on school grounds, students are able to schedule appointments with healthcare professionals or walk right in if they are sick.
We want to help you get the technical expertise you need to build your own school-based health centers -- like how you can use our “Student Wellness and Success” funds to build a clinic. And so today, I am asking several of our state agencies to work together with school district leaders to provide needed technical assistance on how to utilize existing resources to build more highquality, sustainable, school-based clinics.
I am also pleased today to announce that we will be launching a new pilot program in 11 Ohio counties that we call “Family Connects.” Every new mom will be eligible to receive a visit from a nurse about three weeks after delivering her baby. These visiting nurses can guide families to clinical or community supports; recognize when a mom and baby may need additional help as a result of exhaustion or trouble with breastfeeding; and remind or teach new moms about how a baby can sleep safely.
To manage asthma well, it requires taking the time to understand the needs and circumstances of a family; making sure they have access to care and medications; ensuring the school nurse knows the child’s asthma action plan. These holistic actions -- all together -- are what kids and families need to manage asthma effectively. The OAK Learning Network will reward and incentivize our healthcare system in a new way to focus on asthma prevention.
As I have in my last two State of the State speeches, we focused our attention on mental health -because we are in crisis. In fact, this whole country is in crisis. I also want to thank the Members of the General Assembly, who have taken on these issues -- and that includes Senators Stephanie Kunze and Bill DeMora and Representatives Steve Demetriou and Tom Young.
While it would be best if the federal government set a national standard, they have not acted -- and we cannot wait. These are not isolated cases. This is the reality of life for a lot of Ohio parents, and too often, they just don’t know where to turn -- and really, they have been pretty much ignored.
This is what complete wrap around care should look like -- because no child, no parent, and no family should ever walk alone.One of the biggest complaints I hear in my travels around Ohio is from families who don’t know where to turn for help when their child is in a mental health crisis. And so, we are increasing the availability of immediate behavioral health care in the right place at the right time through the expansion of what we call “Mobile Response Stabilization Services.
This isn’t a loan -- it is a grant that you do not have to pay back! And Ohio’s colleges and universities have the funds available right now to spend on these students. Therefore, I am calling on Ohio’s college presidents -- both four-year and two-year -- to make this year count. The money is there -- so get it into their hands and get them started!
We are replicating what they are doing through a new pilot program that will help more Ohio counties to recruit and support local treatment foster homes by: Providing one-on-one support for families; 24/7 on-call casework and crisis counseling; and specialized training, so that children with complex behavioral needs can stay in a home, with a loving family that can remain actively involved in the treatment process.
Ohio’s unemployment is at historic lows, the job market is booming, and -- unlike the federal government -- Ohio now has the highest possible credit ratings! We are making great progress protecting our precious Lake Erie and our other waterways through H2Ohio! In just a few short weeks, we will be opening Ohio’s 76th State Park -- Great Council State Park in Greene County!I am grateful for all we have been able to accomplish together, but we have even more to do -- additional urgent issues that...
That is not what people voted for, but it is what the current law allows. We owe it to our families to change that, and you, Members of the General Assembly, have the power to do that. I ask you to exercise that power. They continue to target our kids -- eager to addict the next generation through cigarettes, vaping, and flavored products. Here’s a statistic: Nearly 81 percent of youths ages 12 to 17, who have used a tobacco product, reported that the first product they ever tried was flavored.
To our Mayors, Chiefs of Police, and local Public Safety Directors -- Our team is ready and willing to surge in and help -- just call us!We also have an obligation to keep our children safe on Ohio roads and highways. Before I conclude, I would like to take a moment to remember the five respected former leaders from this body who have died just since the start of this year: ***Former Senate Majority Leader Ted Gray; Each of them embodied what is truly great about Ohio, by always looking to the rising sun, focusing on what is important to Ohio families, and fighting for the betterment of this whole State. They will be missed and always remembered.
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