4.5 Supply Building

Building a supply of high-quality child care that meets the needs and preferences of parents participating in CCDF is necessary to meet CCDF’s core purposes. Lead Agencies must support parent choice by providing some portion of direct services via grants or contracts, including at a minimum for children in underserved geographic areas, infants and toddlers, and children with disabilities. 4.5.1 Child care services available through grants or contracts Does the Lead Agency provide direct child care services through grants or contracts for child care slots? [ ] Yes, statewide. Describe how the Lead Agency ensures that parents who enroll with a provider who has a grant or contract have choices when selecting a provider: [ ] Yes, in some jurisdictions, but not statewide. Describe how many jurisdictions use grants or contracts for child care slots and how the Lead Agency ensures that parents who enroll with a provider who has a grant or contract have choices when selecting a provider: [x] No. If no, describe any Lead Agency plans to provide direct child care services through grants and contracts for child care slots: The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is developing a program to allocate grants and contracts to licensed child care providers. This initiative aims to increase access to affordable child care for low-income families, enhance the quality of early childhood education, and support child care providers in meeting state standards. To achieve this goal, MSDE will partner with early childhood stakeholders to expand child care slots through grants and contracts. This strategy can significantly benefit child care centers, family child care programs, and the families who rely on them. As we develop these new program ideas, we encourage the inclusion of family child care providers and a collaborative design process with both the field and families. Maryland is currently requesting a waiver for the contract/grant requirement. Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan based on the findings to implement a contract and/or grant. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. If no, skip to question 4.5.2. i. If yes, identify the populations of children served through grants or contracts for child care slots (check all that apply). For each population selected, identify the number of slots allocated through grants or contracts for direct service of children receiving CCDF. [ ] Children with disabilities. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Infants and toddlers. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children in underserved geographic areas. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children needing non-traditional hour care. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] School-age children. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children experiencing homelessness. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children in urban areas. Percent of CCDF children served in an average month: [ ] Children in rural areas. Percent of CCDF children served in an average month: [ ] Other populations. If checked, describe: ii. If yes, how are rates for slots funded by grants and contracts determined by the Lead Agency? 4.5.2 Care in the child’s home (in-home care) The Lead Agency must allow for in-home care (i.e., care provided in the child’s own home) but may limit its use. Will the Lead Agency limit the use of in-home care in any way? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If yes, what limits will the Lead Agency set on the use of in-home care? Check all that apply. i. [ ] Restricted based on the minimum number of children in the care of the in- home provider to meet the Fair Labor Standards Act (minimum wage) requirements. Describe: ii. [x] Restricted based on the in-home provider meeting a minimum age requirement. Describe: Provider must be 18 years of age. iii. [ ] Restricted based on the hours of care (i.e., certain number of hours, non- traditional work hours). Describe: iv. [ ] Restricted to care by relatives. (A relative provider must be at least 18 years of age based on the definition of eligible child care provider.) Describe: v. [ ] Restricted to care for children with special needs or a medical condition. Describe: vi. [ ] Restricted to in-home providers that meet additional health and safety requirements beyond those required by CCDF. Describe: vii. [x] Other. Describe: Restricted relative in-home care to grandparents, great- grandparents, aunts and uncles, and older siblings above the age of 18 not included within the household composition of the Child Care Scholarship CCS Program are the only relations that are considered as relative. Relative care may be provided within the home of the child or relative. Non-relative informal care is limited to the home of the child. Both relative and non-relative informal child care requires the provider and anyone in the household that is 18 or older to complete a Criminal Background check and a Child Protective Service clearance. 4.5.3 Shortages in the supply of child care Lead Agencies must identify shortages in the supply of child care providers that meet parents’ needs and preferences. What child care shortages has the Lead Agency identified in the State or Territory, and what is the plan to address the child care shortages? a. In infant and toddler programs: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. ii. Method of tracking progress: Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. b. In different regions of the State or Territory: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. Per the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, by 2027, fifty percent of all prekindergarten slots must be in private provider programs (child care centers and family child care homes). To that end, MSDE is currently implementing capacity building initiatives to help child care programs improve quality and expand access to prekindergarten slots in child care centers and family child care homes. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) completed Blueprint implementation plans to describe their efforts to improve their mixed delivery system by way of increasing the number of child care centers and family child care homes. As Maryland expands access to Pre-K, the state is also focus on maintaining the infant-toddler supply. ii. Method of tracking progress: Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. LEAs complete annual Pre-K Data collection which measures year-over-year increases in family child care homes and child care centers participating in publicly funded Pre-K. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes? Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. The COVID-19 Pandemic exacerbated the reduction of Licensed and Registered Child Care Programs in the State of Maryland and across the United State of America. Growing Opportunities for Family Child Care (GOFCC) is a unique program started in Montgomery County which provides intense and targeted training, coaching, and resources to support interested individuals in opening a family child care business. The goal of the Growing Opportunities for Family Child Care program is to increase the supply and ensure the sustainability of family child care providers in areas with above average rates of poverty and unemployment. GOFCC guides potential providers through the licensing process while supporting them in building a strong business foundation and high-quality child care program. Participation is free and includes all the required training, provides access to knowledgeable coaches, and a variety of resources which will support the opening and operating of a child care business. Per the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, by 2027, fifty percent of all prekindergarten slots must be in private provider programs (child care centers and family child care homes). To that end, MSDE is currently implementing capacity building initiatives to help child care programs improve quality and expand access to prekindergarten slots in child care centers and family child care homes. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) completed Blueprint implementation plans to describe their efforts to improve their mixed delivery system by way of increasing the number of child care centers and family child care homes. As Maryland expands access to Pre-K, the state is also focus on maintaining the infant-toddler supply. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. Per the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, by 2027, fifty percent of all prekindergarten slots must be in private provider programs (child care centers and family child care homes). To that end, MSDE is currently implementing capacity building initiatives to help child care programs improve quality and expand access to prekindergarten slots in child care centers and family child care homes. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) completed Blueprint implementation plans to describe their efforts to improve their mixed delivery system by way of increasing the number of child care centers and family child care homes. As Maryland expands access to Pre-K, the state is also focus on maintaining the infant-toddler supply. c. In care for special populations: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. Blueprint Implementation Plan (collected from Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) twice a year) and Pre-K Enrollment data files (collected from Pre-K Expansion Grantees three times a year). ii. Method of tracking progress: Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) complete annual Pre-K Data collection which measures year-over-year increases in family child care homes and child care centers participating in publicly funded Pre-K. LEA’s complete Blueprint Implementation Plans twice a year and Pre-K Enrollment data files are collected from Pre-K Expansion Grantees three times a year. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes? Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. Per the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, by 2027, fifty percent of all prekindergarten slots must be in private provider programs (child care centers and family child care homes). To that end, MSDE is currently implementing capacity building initiatives to help child care programs improve quality and expand access to prekindergarten slots in child care centers and family child care homes. Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) completed Blueprint implementation plans to describe their efforts to improve their mixed delivery system by way of increasing the number of child care centers and family child care homes. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. Per the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, by 2027, fifty percent of all prekindergarten slots must be in private provider programs (child care centers and family child care homes). To that end, MSDE is currently implementing capacity building initiatives to help child care programs improve quality and expand access to prekindergarten slots in child care centers and family child care homes. 4.5.4 Strategies to increase the supply of and improve quality of child care Lead Agencies must develop and implement strategies to increase the supply of and improve the quality of child care services. These strategies must address child care in underserved geographic areas; infants and toddlers; children with disabilities, as defined by the Lead Agency; and children who receive care during non-traditional hours. How does the Lead Agency identify any gaps in the supply and quality of child care services and what strategies are used to address those gaps for: a. Underserved geographic areas. Describe: Financial incentives are available for all licensed child care programs participating in Maryland EXCELS who publish first time, higher, or maintain a quality rating of 4 or 5. An analysis of QRIS participation was conducted to identify regions in Maryland with low participation in Maryland EXCELS. An outreach plan which will include collaboration with community-based organizations and resources is being developed and implemented. While Maryland has over 80% of all licensed child care centers and 60% of all registered family child care homes participating in Maryland’s quality rating and improvement system, Maryland EXCELS most programs remain at a quality rating 1. Targeted outreach including the development of cohorts in high need zip codes throughout Maryland, increased online materials and resources, the revision of current Maryland EXCELS standards, and collaboration with stakeholders and community supports will assist with increasing the number of programs with quality ratings of 3, 4, and 5. Early Learning and Instruction: The recent ￿Barriers to Participating in State-funded Pre- Kindergarten" survey has brought to light several significant challenges. The survey results indicate that child care providers are grappling with obstacles such as insufficient funding, complex regulatory requirements, and difficulties in recruiting and retaining qualified staff. These barriers, as identified through the survey, are hindering many programs from fully engaging in Pre-K initiatives. Understanding these challenges and barriers faced by child care programs is essential for developing effective strategies to increase participation. MSDE has also received feedback from stakeholders regarding the lack of child care supply for infant and toddler programs as well as Pre-K programs. MSDE knows that we are not serving all eligible children through the CCDF funds and state funds. The statewide supply and demand study will also include focus groups from families to help us better understand where geographically greater supply is needed and what kinds of early childhood programs are needed. This research will enable MSDE to submit an amendment in FY26 with a targeted and specific plan for supply building. b. Infants and toddlers. Describe: Maryland allows for Family Child Care providers to care for up to 4 children under the age of 2 with an Additional Adult. The provider must complete the 45 hour Infant and Toddler course and the Additional Adult must complete the background checks, medicals and some additional training as well. MSDE conducted a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five and received feedback from stakeholders regarding the lack of child care supply for infant and toddler programs, as well as Pre-K programs. MSDE knows that we are not serving all eligible children through the CCDF funds and state funds. The statewide supply and demand study will also include focus groups from families to help us better understand where geographically greater supply is needed and what kinds of early childhood programs are needed. This research will enable MSDE to submit an amendment in FY26 with a targeted and specific plan for supply building. c. Children with disabilities. Describe: Through the Therapeutic / Medically Fragile Child Care Grant, MSDE provides funding to five child care programs throughout Maryland ￿ PACT: Helping Children with Special Needs ￿ World of Care, PACT ￿ Helping Children with Special Needs ￿ Therapeutic Nursery, The Arc of Montgomery County, The Arc of Prince George’s County, and The Reginald S. Lourie Center. These programs provide medically based child care and early education services to children with medical diagnoses and those who have developmental delays, physical disabilities, and behavioral issues that require specialized care. Also, the Division of Early Childhood Education partners with the Division of Early Intervention in support of providers serving children with special needs. The Division of Early Intervention leads efforts in providing professional development and resources to providers to assist them in ensuring that students have the necessary accommodations and modifications to help them meet success. d. Children who receive care during non-traditional hours. Describe: Families working non- traditional hours from 7 pm to 6 am and on the weekend have the hardest time finding child care mainly because these hours are outside the core hours operated by licensed and regulated early care and educational programs. Also, parents working non-traditional hours also work varying work schedules. To support children from families who need child care while their parents work and to increase the number of quality child care programs rendering services during non-traditional hours: Maryland pays above the base scholarship rate as a recruitment mechanism. Also, the payment of a higher child care scholarship reimbursement rate increases the value of the non-traditional scholarship, thus making higher quality or more expensive child care options more affordable. e. Other. Specify what population is being focused on to increase supply or improve quality. Describe: Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. MSDE is currently increasing efforts to expand access to high quality prekindergarten by recruiting additional programs to participate in Pre-K programming and providing them with technical assistance to improve quality. Low income families, children with disabilities, multi language learners, and children experiencing homelessness are priority for accessing these high quality, publicly funded prekindergarten programs. Maryland EXCELS and Maryland Accreditation are two programs where Maryland is investing in quality for infants and toddlers, Pre-K, and school age children. Maryland has increased the financial incentives for programs to raise quality. Financial incentives ranging from $1,000-$13,500 are available to licensed child care programs that publish a first time or higher quality rating or maintain a quality rating of 4 or 5. 4.5.5 Prioritization of investments in areas of concentrated poverty and unemployment Lead Agencies must prioritize investments for increasing access to high-quality child care and development services for children of families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment and do not currently have sufficient numbers of such programs. Describe how the Lead Agency prioritizes increasing access to high-quality child care and development services for children of families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment and that do not have access to high-quality programs. Maryland is in the process of beginning to conduct a statewide supply and demand study from birth through age five. Once this study is complete, Maryland will submit a plan implementing strategies based on the findings. Maryland anticipates implementing this plan in 2026-2027. Families with approved or pending Temporary Cash Assistance/ Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TCA/TANF) are approved Child Care Scholarship (CCS) benefits upon the submission of an initial application with job search as an approved activity. Likewise, parents that become unemployed after they were determined eligible to receive CCDF benefits are permitted to maintain eligibility until the subsequent determination, where the family must meet all eligibility requirements in order for the child to be issued a new scholarship. Whether an initial CCS applicant that is completing job search or a family that becomes unemployed once determined eligible for CCDF benefits, both groups would have access to all licensed or registered child care programs participating in Maryland EXCELS. Thus, the child will be granted the ability to enter or to continue access to higher quality child care while their parent is seeking employment. For CCS eligible families that access child care by enrolling in programs participating in Maryland EXCELS, concentrated efforts have been made to identify specific areas across Maryland that have higher percentages of poverty and conduct needs assessments of the licensed child care providers to determine resources needed to increase quality ratings. These efforts have included setting goals to increase programs with quality ratings of 1 and 2 to 3 or higher as well as increasing participation in areas of the state that have lower than 50% of eligible licensed programs participating in Maryland EXCELS. Additionally, MSDE reserves the right to take into consideration geographic distribution and other factors (including, but not limited to poverty) when increasing access to high quality, publicly funded prekindergarten in child care programs. In center-based programs and home-based care programs outside of the publicly funded pre-k system, enrollment is based on space/slot availability. 5 Health and Safety of Child Care Settings Child care health and safety standards and enforcement practices are essential to protect the health and safety of children while out of their parents’ care. CCDF provides a minimum threshold for child care health and safety policies and practices but leaves authority to Lead Agencies to design standards that appropriately protect children’s safety and promote nurturing environments that support their healthy growth and development. Lead Agencies should set standards for ratios, group size limits, and provider qualifications that help ensure that the child care environment is conducive to safety and learning and enable caregivers to promote all domains of children’s development. CCDF health and safety standards help set clear expectations for CCDF providers, form the foundation for health and safety training for child care workers, and establish the baseline for monitoring to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements. These health and safety requirements apply to all providers serving children receiving CCDF services – whether the providers are licensed or license-exempt, must be appropriate to the provider setting and age of the children served, must include specific topics and training on those topics, and are subject to monitoring and enforcement procedures by the Lead Agency. CCDF-required annual monitoring and enforcement actions help ensure that CCDF providers are adopting and implementing health and safety requirements. Through child care licensing, Lead Agencies set minimum requirements, including health and safety requirements, that child care providers must meet to legally operate in that State or Territory. In some cases, CCDF health and safety requirements may be integrated within the licensing system for licensed providers and may be separate for CCDF providers who are license- exempt. This section addresses CCDF health and safety requirements, Lead Agency licensing requirements and exemptions, and comprehensive background checks. When responding to questions in this section, OCC recognizes that each Lead Agency identifies and defines its own categories of care. OCC does not expect Lead Agencies to change their definitions to fit the CCDF-defined categories of care. For these questions, provide responses that best match the CCDF categories of care.