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Twenty of Maryland’s legislative districts have been identified as child care deserts according to Maryland Family Network (MFN) today. A child care desert is defined as a census tract with at least 50 children under age five AND greater than a 3:1 ratio of children to spots available. Garrett, Somerset and Cecil Counties have been identified as entire counties considered child care deserts.
MFN will identify a private and/or public non-profit organization to serve as the delegate agency responsible for operating the Dukeland Early Head Start Center, an Early Head Start program located at 2803 N. Dukeland Street, Baltimore, Maryland. The selected delegate agency will assume responsibility for operations effective April 3, 2023. Organizations must be able to demonstrate that they are locally-based with knowledge of the community’s needs and resources, and experience providing services to families in Baltimore City.
Maryland Family Network honored Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson yesterday with the Dr. Nancy S. Grasmick Leadership Award in Early Care & Education. President Ferguson has championed the critical role that quality early care and learning will play in transforming public education in Maryland into a world-class system, and his leadership has ensured that new parents and all Marylanders will never be forced to choose between the jobs they need and the families they love.
We have an opportunity for parents to share their voice with the goal of strengthening child care in Maryland and making Child Care Scholarship easier to access.
Thoughtful coaching and mentoring approaches contribute to the quality and effectiveness of early childhood programs. Each webinar in the series provide participants with practical information, strategies, and tactics to use in their child care program. In addition to increasing your professional skill set, successful participants will also receive 45 Core of Knowledge Hours to be used for the Maryland Administrators’ Child Care Credential, and the level 4 requirement for training with that credential.
Earlier this year, we convened town hall discussions with hundreds of child care providers across the state to learn more about their experiences with MSDE’s Child Care Scholarship program. What we learned is that for too many providers the system is too slow, too cumbersome, and too unreliable for early childhood educators to depend upon it as a reliable source of income.
Maryland Family Network (MFN) is issuing a Request for Proposal (“RFP”) seeking qualified Vendors who have consulting experience in finding and analyzing demographic data to inform and develop MFN’s Child Care Demographics and MFN’s Trends in Child Care reports.
MFN's virtual auction fundraiser is live! The auction features eight fabulous vacation packages for two and includes destinations like Greece, Costa Rica, Italy, Ireland, and more. Register here to bid on one of eight incredible vacation packages! All trips are valid for three years with no blackout dates and include deluxe accommodations for two. Bidding is open from June 1 - 13, so don't miss your chance at one of these trips of a lifetime! Presented in partnership with American Fundraising Foundation.
A new Child Care Resource Center has come to town! On April 20, 2022 Child Care Choices and Maryland Family Network held a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of a new Washington County Office of Maryland’s Child Care Resource Network. Representatives from MFN and Child Care Choices were joined by Maryland State Delegate Brenda J. Thiam to help cut the ribbon.