Program Description

  Early Care and Education

In March 2019, the County Executive, County Council President and County Council members, the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), and Montgomery College (MC) joined together in an initiative to increase the number of quality Early Care and Education (ECE) seats in a mixed-delivery system by registering additional Family Child Care (FCC) providers, increasing resources to providers and families, and identifying existing unused or underutilized classroom space in high need areas, making quality early care and education accessible to more families. The Initiative is a concerted effort for strengthening the early care and education system in Montgomery County. Year One goals focused on increasing seats in Family Child Care and center-based settings, increasing access to quality ECE to more children through increased utilization of Working Parents Assistance Program (WPA), ensuring sustainability of existing family and center-based programs to reduce provider attrition and loss of available seats, and monitoring the Kirwan Commission recommendations to ensure alignment and possible coordination with partners at the State level. Year Two focused on making significant changes to the Child Care Subsidy program but the ECE Initiative Steering Committee quickly pivoted to recovery work during the COVID-19 pandemic, developing supports for sustainability of early childhood programs and support for families.

In the fall of 2020, the County Executive released a 4-year action plan that was developed by the Interagency Workgroup and the Stakeholder group with recommendations across the Initiative's priorities of sustainability, access & affordability, alignment, and expansion including, but not limited to financing, services alignment, workforce supports, and community engagement. As the Initiative moves into year 4, there is a focus on increasing the supply of child care, reducing costs for early educators, increasing quality programming, and subsidizing the costs of child care for families.