Utilization of Higher-Quality Early Care and Education Among Children Using a Maryland Child Care Scholarship

Overview

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.

Key findings

• The number of higher-quality providers significantly increased from 2018 to 2020.
• The percentage of children with a scholarship who used higher-quality providers significantly increased from 2018 to 2020.
• The sharpest increase in the utilization of higher-quality providers by children with a scholarship occurred from January to October 2018, although approximately two thirds of children stayed with the same provider during this time.
• Though the proportion of children with a scholarship using higher-quality providers varied across racial and ethnic groups as well as by household income, increases in the utilization of higher-quality ECE were evident across all groups and income categories over time.
• The proportion of children with a scholarship using higher-quality providers varied by urbanicity. However, increases in the utilization of higher-quality providers have occurred across all community types.
• These patterns are likely due to historic as well as contemporary disparities in access to resources and necessitate continued monitoring to ensure that all subgroups of eligible families maintain equitable access to high-quality providers regardless of geographic region and race/ethnicity.

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Footnotes

[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.