update:

Thank you for your support on this issue. Due to the amazing response, Governor Erlich added $2 million dollar to his supplementary budget to help make up for the $4 million dollars that was cut from it.

Even with this good news, the funding was not enough to keep the Resource and Referral Centers from having to lose services. In an attempt to minimize the damage to the entire program, it was decided that CCRR's would no longer offer Technic, the technical services department that assists child care providers in getting started in offering child care.

Technic's loss will have a dramatic impact on Maryland. Individuals will no longer have a place to turn for extra help in setting up their home centers. This will result in loss of availability of child care in many neighborhoods throughout the state. If parents cannot find child care, they cannot work.

Also, one of the 13 CCRR's was forced to close as a result of the cut in funding.

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Maryland Child Care Resource and Referral Centers (CCRRs) provide child care location service for families, educate parents on characteristics of quality childcare, provide training for educators, offer mental health services for children, and much more.

This is a statewide network of services. Each center varies in size, services, and areas served. Maryland Child Care Resource and Referral Centers started 20 years ago and has grown from 3 centers to 13 to serve all of Maryland.

Reason's Maryland Needs the CCRR'

Results and Accountability: CCRRs work on results-based management and have documented the positive outcomes they achieve for children and families. Even in tough times, these programs need preserved.

Welfare Reform: CCRRs provides indispensable employment supports for families moving from welfare to self-sufficiency. CCRRs locate quality child care for parents so they can enter and remain in the workforce.

School Readiness: The State spends billions in public K-12 education, but less than half of Maryland 5-year-olds enter kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed. CCRRs equip parents and caregivers with knowledge and services that demonstrably improve school readiness. Long-term studies show that every $1 invested in quality early care and education returns $7 in overall benefits (incl. higher earnings and tax payments, reduced juvenile justice costs, reduced special ed. costs.)

Don't Destroy Infrastructure: Maryland has spent decades and millions of dollars building the network of CCRRs to deliver essential services. Cutting this contract will close the network down. Difficult times may require scaling back services, but the delivery system must be kept intact to restore services when times improve.

It Must be done and Somebody's Got To Do It: Federal regulations mandate some of the services provided by CCRRs. CCRRs educate consumers to increase parental choice and improve quality of child care, as stipulated in the State Plan for the Child Care and Development Fund submitted by DHR and approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. If the CCRRs are eliminated, the State must assume this responsibility.

Maryland Child Care Resource and Referral Centers

written on January 28, 2003; modified on May 22, 2003.