Following the reauthorization of the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014, Maryland implemented multiple changes to its Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) policies. These policy changes were designed to increase access to high-quality care for families receiving a child care subsidy (referred to as a “scholarship” in Maryland). This fact sheet presents information on the utilization of higher-quality early care and education (ECE) providers among children who participated in the Maryland child care scholarship program from January 2018 to February 2020. During this time, Maryland increased the scholarship reimbursement offered to providers three times, raised the family income threshold for eligibility twice, and fully implemented the state’s 2016 policy decision[1] to require quality ratings for all providers serving children with a scholarship.
[1] In October 2016, providers were required to publish a quality rating to serve children using subsidies. However, there was a delay in programs receiving their ratings due to revisions in QRIS standards and a shortage of sufficient QRIS staff to conduct classroom observations. As a result, most providers published a quality rating by August 2018.
Tang, J., Forry, N., Halle, T., Madill, R., Kelley, S., and Fuller, J. (2024). Utilization of higher-quality early care and education among children using a Maryland child care scholarship. Child Trends. https://doi.org/10.56417/4766q136t
© Copyright 2024 ChildTrendsPrivacy Statement
Newsletter SignupLinkedInThreadsYouTube