Family Care Benefits

The Ohio State University has partnered with Bright Horizons® to offer family care support benefits to employees and help them better manage their many work, life, and family responsibilities for eligible Ohio State employees (full-time and part-time (at least 50% FTE) in a regular or term position).

Join Bright HorizonsThis benefit is not available for pediatric faculty who also hold an appointment with Nationwide Children’s Hospital, COTC, OSU Physicians and Faculty Club employees.

Support to meet your needs

You can rely on flexible family support from Bright Horizons®, including the following:

• Fill child care gaps with back-up care when schedules go head-to-head
• Secure full-time child care that fits the way you work — plus, get waitlist priority
• Find care for adult loved ones when you can’t be there, in your home or theirs!
• Make your sitter search easier with your free Sittercity membership
• Find the perfect nanny with personalized help from Jovie
• Stop the morning rush & afternoon scramble with before- and after-school programs
• Take academic support off your plate with discounts on professional tutoring
• Check ‘walk the dog’ and ‘clean the kitchen’ off your to-do list with pet care and housekeepers through your free Sittercity membership
• Secure back-up care through your own personal network (babysitter, relative, friend) through Out-of-Network care and receive a reimbursement of $100/day

Eligible employees have access to a network of high-quality childcare centers and in-home care providers, which provide temporary care when you have a disruption in your regular care.

To help ease the cost of paying for back-up care, employees will only pay a co-pay while Ohio State pays for the rest of back-up care utilization. Co-pays paid for back-up care can be reimbursed through the Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA).

Back-Up Care benefit details

• Eligible employees can access up to 10 back-up care days per employee per year
• Center-based care is $25 per child/day or $40 per family/day
• In-home care for children and adults is $10 per hour
• If network care is unavailable, employees will be reimbursed $100 per day if they secure a personal caregiver. Starting in 2026, personal caregivers must be an approved caregiver through Sittercity.

Back-Up Care helps when…

• School is closed for a holiday, inclement weather or vacation
• A regular caregiver is unavailable
• Transitioning back to work from leave
• Working from home and children schooling from home
• An elder loved one needs care in their home anywhere in the U.S.

Please Note: This is a taxable benefit. The difference between the fair market value of care and the amount you paid (co-pay) for services will be reported as additional income on your paycheck and will be subject to taxes. The market value is based on the state of Ohio averages and will be reviewed and adjusted annually. The following are 2026 market value for services per use:

• Center-Based Childcare is $115
• In-Home Childcare is $132
• In-Home Adult/Eldercare is $256

Eligible employees have access to discounts for primary childcare solutions, academic supports & tutoring services, enrichment programs, and elder care support. These programs are all self-sourced by employees, and services are fully paid by the employee.

Primary Child Care Solutions

• Preferred enrollment at Bright Horizons centers allows employees to jump to the front of the waitlist and receive a waived registration fee.
• Discounts on summer day camp at Steve & Kate’s Camp
• Waived membership fees for Sittercity’s database of sitters, nannies, pet sitters, and housekeepers
• Discounts on the placement fee from Jovie, a high-touch nanny placement service
• Access to before- and after-school programs from Right at School

Academic Support & Tutoring

• Discounts on tutoring from high-quality education partners, including Sylvan Learning, Varsity Tutors, and Revolution Prep

Enrichment Programs

• Access and discounts for Brooklyn Robot Foundry, Code Ninjas, and MarcoPolo

Elder Care Support

• Access to Years Ahead, which provides an online needs assessment for elder family members, access to elder care resources, and guidance in finding senior care providers.