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‘Our children need it’: Program offering care to kids with medical issues may come to Ohio
December 3, 2025
‘Our children need it’: Program offering care to kids with medical issues may come to Ohio
By Chelsea Sick
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(WKRC) – A childcare center for medically complex children is providing life changing care for families in Northern Kentucky. The services are covered by Kentucky’s Medicaid, but it is not available in Ohio.
The Easterseals Redwood facilities in Fort Mitchell and Florence provide child care to medically complex children and their siblings. In total, they serve more than 200 kids, 80 of them with medical complexities. They have medical staff and therapists on site to help the kids with their unique needs.
“I truly would be lost without the center,” said Reagan Domaschko. “I couldn’t imagine trusting anyone else more with my boys.”
Domaschko has two boys in the Easterseals Redwood Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care (PPEC) program. It’s a place kids can socialize, make friends, and get the specialized care they need.
“My three-year-old is Luca. He has a duplicated chromosome 22 which causes rhabdoid tumors – he has one on the right side of his brain that connects to his speech, he is also nonverbal autistic. I have a four-year-old who has food aversion and constipation issues and is g-tube fed,” Domaschko said.
She says her oldest son couldn’t attend other daycares because they did not have the staff to help with his g-tube. The PPEC program can help with many different medical complexities and their siblings can attend too.
“So, children who are developing typically sit alongside children with complex medical needs and they’re receiving the exact same experiences as each other while the children with complex medical needs is receiving individualized nursing treatments and therapies,” said Katrina Proud, Director of Children Services at Easterseals Redwood.
Right now, these services are not available in Ohio, but that could change if Ohio House Bill 141 passes. The bipartisan effort is sponsored by two greater Cincinnati representatives.
“It just makes sense, I was really kind of shocked Ohio didn’t have something for children with these complex medical needs,” said Cindy Abrams (R- Harrison).
Former nurse Rep. Rachel Baker is also sponsoring the bill.
“We have a lot of these families that get their care from Cincinnati Children’s and really we need to have community support for them when they’re not in the hospital,” Rep. Baker (D-Cincinnati) said.
House Bill 141 would establish a licensure process and allow the program to be funded by Medicaid.
“Our children need it,” Domaschko said. “It’s not a want, it’s a need. It’s causing a lot of kids to suffer. They’re not getting the help that they need, that they deserve.”
Representative Abrams says the PPEC program could save the state money in Medicaid costs because these kids are less likely to need emergency services if they are getting consistent professional care.
The bill passed in the Ohio House unanimously in June. It was still in the Senate committee as of December 3.
