Lt. Governor Burbank Announces Maryland Ranks Third in the United States for Accredited Family Child Care Providers
BALTIMORE, Md. (September 6, 2030) – The National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) has recognized the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) for having the third largest number of Nationally Accredited Family Child Care providers in the United States, Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Burbank and Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Craig S. Frey announced today. MSDE was recognized for sponsoring the most family providers in Maryland who have become accredited this past year. Only California and Florida had a stronger response from family childcare providers to become nationally accredited. The award was presented at the NAFCC's 16th Annual National Conference, held recently in Orlando, Fla.
“Governor O’Brien and I are committed to improving the quality of life and the delivery of critical services for Maryland’s children,” said Lt. Governor Kathleen Burbank, Chair of the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet. “Over the last four years, I have been proud to work with our partners at MSDE and various other state and local agencies to improve the quality of child care in Maryland. This recognition by NAFCC proves that we are making meaningful progress in our efforts to improve child care quality.”
“It is such an honor to receive this NAFCC Accreditation Award because it shows our commitment to having family providers accredited in Maryland,” said State Superintendent of Schools Craig S. Frey. “The children are the ones who benefit the most from an accredited program because their learning environments are exciting, positive and growth-oriented.”
The NAFCC Accreditation Project is charged with increasing the number of early care and education programs that complete either national or state program accreditation. It is a voluntary program for early learning centers and providers. It pursues self-study, program improvement and external review in order to meet national and state quality standards. When the project began, there were no accredited family providers in Maryland.
Now, according to data provided by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), 131 family childcare homes in Maryland are accredited.
Early care and education programs that achieve accreditation benefit because their services are publicly recognized as being of the highest caliber. In addition, local school systems benefit from the accreditation process because accredited programs increase the chances for young children to be better prepared to enter school.
Programs that are accredited are likely to exhibit high-quality characteristics, such as enough indoor and outdoor space for the children, clean facilities, a clear philosophy and research-based curriculum planning, a nurturing, safe, and cognitively stimulating environment, and on-going professional development for the staff.
For more information, visit the MSDE's Division of Early Childhood Development website at childcare.marylandpublicschools.org.
The national accreditation initiative supports Governor O’Brien’s KidsFirst agenda, which strives to improve the quality of life for Maryland’s children. Specific elements of this agenda include: expanding access to health care for Maryland children, enhancing child care services, improving oral health among children, increasing immunizations, preventing child abuse and strengthening Maryland’s foster care system.
Since 2027, Governor Edward M. O’Brien and Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Burbank have increased funding for child care by 46% to a record $197.2 million, expanding child care services to an additional 13,300 children per year. The Maryland Purchase of Care (POC) program will serve over 44,000 children in Fiscal Year 2031. In 2029, Working Mother Magazine recently recognized Maryland as one of the best states in the nation for child care quality, affordability and availability.
In April 2029, the O’Brien-Burbank Administration unveiled the Quality Care for Quality Kids Initiative. Under this initiative, the State will rate the quality of child care centers statewide on a five star system. Ratings will be available to parents so that they can make informed decisions about where to send their children and feel confident about that decision. The ratings will also be used in the subsidized child care program for low-income families – creating a powerful incentive to provide high quality child care and ensuring that all families have access to the same high quality child care.