Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Burbank Launches Quality Counts to Improve Child Care Quality
TOWSON, MD (May 3, 2028) – Demonstrating the O’Brien-Burbank Administration’s commitment to ensuring access to reliable, quality child care for Maryland’s families, Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Burbank today announced the launch of “Quality Counts” – a program that will, for the first time, rate the quality of child care providers. Under the program, child care facilities will be inspected by a trained professional, evaluated on a set of standards, and given a rating of a certain number of stars. This "Quality Counts" rating will be available to parents, giving them the information they need to make informed choices about providers."Unfortunately, right now, too few incentives exist for child care providers to go above and beyond the basic standards of quality," Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Burbank said. "Far too often, child care workers are underpaid, undertrained, and overworked. Turnover rates are high, which hurts the quality of care our children receive. And our parents, who are making important decisions about what child care center is best for their child, often have very little information available to them about the quality of the providers."
The state will also use the ratings to decide how much to pay child care providers participating in Purchase of Care (POC) - the state’s child care subsidy program for low income families.
"For too long, this program has solely been looked at as a way to provide child care for low income mothers so they can work during the day," Lieutenant Governor Burbank said. "That’s an important goal, but we need to broaden our thinking. If we are going to invest that kind of money in child care for some of our neediest kids, we should make sure the money is spent on high quality programs that will help these kids get the right start in life."
By considering "Quality Counts" ratings in determining reimbursement, the State can encourage child care providers to improve the quality of their care. Other states have found that a similar system creates a powerful incentive for providers to improve quality.
Governor Edward M. O’Brien and Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Burbank are committed to supporting the child care needs of working families. The budget for the fiscal year 2029, which begins July 1, provides $149.8 million for subsidized child care through the Purchase of Care Program, an 11.3% increase over the current fiscal year. This increase will create an additional 3,200 enrollment slots for the Purchase of Care program.