Nationally, home-based child care, which includes regulated family child care (FCC), is the most common type of non-parental child care for children under the age of five in the U.S. However, the number of regulated FCC providers has declined steadily since 2008, including the number of FCC providers receiving Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funds to care for children receiving child care subsidies.[i],[ii] This mixed methods study examined the decline of regulated FCC providers in the State of Maryland. The study aimed to address the following research questions:
- How did the rate of FCC closures change following changes to Maryland’s scholarship[1] policies prior to the COVID-19 pandemic?
- What are the characteristics of FCC providers who stay open (i.e., had an active license) longer?
- Why are Maryland’s FCC providers closing? How do former FCC providers feel about no longer being in business?
- How can Maryland attract and retain FCC providers?
Footnote
[1] Maryland refers to child care subsidies, funded through the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), as child care scholarships.
National Center on Child Care Quality Improvement. (2013). Research Brief #2: Trends in Family Child Care Home Licensing Requirements and Policies for 2011. Fairfax, VA: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Office of Child Care. https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/new-occ/resource/files/itrg_042_1304_fcch_licensing_trends_final_0_2.pdf
Office of Child Care. (2018). FY 2015 final data table 7-number of child care providers receiving CCDF funds. Office of Child Care, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/data/fy-2015-final-data-table-7-number-child-care-providers-receiving-ccdf-funds; Office of Child Care. (2022). FY 2020 preliminary data table 7-number of child care providers receiving CCDF funds. Office of Child Care, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/data/fy-2020-preliminary-data-table-7
Suggested Citation
Banghart, P., Solomon, B., Maxfield, E., Kelley, S., Madill, R., Halle, T., Amadon, S. (2024). The decline of family child care in Maryland. Child Trends. https://doi.org/10.56417/330u4274e