The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Ohio requires video surveillance and online attendance portals for child care centers to combat fraud
Last action · February 4, 2026: Referred to Children and Human ServicesSponsors: Josh Williams and 27 others
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What This Bill Would Do
The Ohio General Assembly introduced House Bill 649, known as the Child Care Fraud Prevention Act, to require child care centers to install security cameras, mandate parent-recorded digital attendance tracking, and establish a strict protocol for investigating waste, fraud, and abuse of .
Child care centers must purchase and maintain camera systems at all entrances, exits, and general child-care areas, while parents must digitally check children in and out using a new state online portal that prohibits backdating and requires facial photographs.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Child care centers
Child care centers must install and maintain compliant camera systems, store footage for sixty days, provide live and stored video access to the state, and face payment suspensions or contract terminations for noncompliance or suspected fraud.
Caretaker parents
Caretaker parents are responsible for recording their children's daily entry and exit times through an online portal using approved methods such as PINs or QR codes along with a facial photograph.
Department of Children and Youth
The department is tasked with establishing the online attendance portal, conducting visual attendance audits via center video feeds, investigating fraud complaints, and referring substantiated cases to the auditor of state.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What areas of a child care center are required to have video cameras?
How long must child care centers store surveillance video?
Who records a child's daily attendance in the new online portal?
Are child care video recordings and investigative files open to the public?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
2 actions- Feb 4, 2026HouseCommitteeReferred to Children and Human Services
- Jan 20, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 23 more sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Mandatory Live State Video Access
The bill transitions child care compliance monitoring from periodic physical inspections to active live and stored video surveillance by state regulators.
Automated Payment Withholding for Fraud Suspicions
State payments to child care providers are tied directly to preliminary inspection findings of suspected waste or misrepresentation prior to formal adjudication.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legislature.ohio.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz45Current news / social attention level
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