As summer approaches, change to Maryland's child care system could enroll more kids at camp

This week, the basketball gym was near empty at the Hagerstown YMCA when the area’s congressional representative visited. Next week, however, the gym is scheduled to be near capacity with over 200 children on site for the start of summer camp.

Nearly half (47 percent) of those children are attending camp with a Child Care Scholarship through the state of Maryland. The number of kids on Child Care Scholarships could be increasing later this summer when a 2022 state law takes effect, making enrolling in the scholarship program easier.

“It’s going to help parents a lot more,” said Rhoni Mills, senior director of youth development at the Hagerstown Richard A. Henson Family YMCA, in an interview in her office.

The 2022 law altered enrollment eligibility for the program and removed a requirement for a parent to seek child support before enrolling, and now those changes are set to take effect on July 1.

But as the new state legislation goes into effect that may expand enrollment, the federal funds that have supported the scholarship program are expiring, setting up a situation begging for a better long-term solution.

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Hagerstown YMCA provides child care during the school year and summer

Mills oversees child care programs for 70 children, ranging from six weeks to 4 years old on the Hagerstown YMCA’s Eastern Boulevard campus, and about a third of those kids are on scholarship. About a quarter (24 percent) of the 700 elementary school-aged children, served by the YMCA at afterschool programs at the 22 sites across Washington County, also receive the benefit that pays child care providers and reduces the cost of child care for working families.

The Hagerstown YMCA is one of the few facilities that allows the scholarship to continue in the summer months due to licensing with the Maryland State Department of Education, or MSDE.

“The Y is one of the only summer camp programs that is licensed under MSDE and allows for use of child care scholarships,” said Jessica Siegrist, administrative assistant at the Hagerstown YMCA, in an email.  

Many child care scholarships statewide have been supported in recent years by the 2021 federal American Rescue Plan Act, which doled out $39 billion for child care costs to the states during the pandemic, a challenging moment for child care when many facilities had to shut their doors, including 892 in Maryland during a 33-month stretch.

The Maryland State Department of Education released over $260 million in stabilization funding to more than 5,000 childcare providers throughout the state during 2021 and 2022, when many facilities were closing their doors.

Child care: A state and national issue

The Child Care Scholarship program awarded funds for over 16,000 eligible children on average per month across the state in fiscal year 2022, but the number could be much higher, according to Laura Weeldreyer, executive director of the Maryland Family Network.

“Roughly 22% of eligible families (in Maryland) are actually making use of Child Care scholarships,” said Weeldreyer, in a phone interview.

A family of four must make less than $90,033 to be eligible for the program, and income requirements are set to change again July 1.

“The exact impact the aforementioned changes will have on (Child Care Scholarship) Program operations is not known,” a 2023 child care law’s fiscal note stated. “It is generally expected to significantly increase State expenditures in the coming years.”

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The fiscal 2024 budget as passed by the Maryland General Assembly includes $58.5 million in general funds and over $100 million in federal funds for the Child Care Scholarship program.

Both at the federal and state levels, child care continues as a challenge that legislators are looking to businesses to help address. A provision in the CHIPS and Science Act passed by Congress last year, in part to construct semiconductor factories, required companies applying for federal funds to provide child care for their employees.

One Salisbury-area state legislator called on businesses to offer child care while another pledged to work with the business community on the issue during remarks at the Post Legislative Session Forum hosted by the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce at the Wicomico County Youth & Civic Center in April.

Salisbury YMCA relies on grants, private funds for camp scholarships

Facing similar challenges for the summer as its Hagerstown counterpart, the YMCA of the Chesapeake in Salisbury is trying a different track, relying on private funding and grants to pay for summer camp scholarships. The YMCA in Salisbury does not provide school year child care services or accept the state's Child Care Scholarships.  

Deanna Harrell, vice president of operations at the Salisbury YMCA named after Richard A. Henson, said the facility will have at least 200 kids a week, starting June 19 through the end of August. 

“Probably about 60 percent of our kids receive some type of financial assistance,” said Harrell, noting that children have not been turned away based off their parents’ ability to pay.  

The Salisbury YMCA partners with the Pocomoke branch, which sits on about 100 acres of property with ziplining, a climbing tower, trails, and a spring-fed pond complete with a water trampoline and an “iceberg,” which is anchored out in the pond with slides for the kids. Children get from the Salisbury YMCA to Pocomoke by bus each day.  

“What we find is the kids are continuing learning through the summer, they’re building skills, they’re are building friendships,” said Harrell, “it helps them to further on in their development.”

“We want to be sure we’re not turning anyone away if they want to be part of it,” she said.

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.