Substitute Child Care Provider Pool Pilot Program - Established
SB 868 establishes a Substitute Child Care Provider Pool Pilot Program within the Maryland State Department of Education. The program is designed to help child care centers, family child care homes, and large family child care homes maintain continuous operations when regular staff are unavailable by connecting them with qualified substitute providers who can fill short-term staffing gaps. The pilot would run from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2030.
Under the bill, the Department of Education must select a nonprofit organization to administer the program and award that organization a $350,000 grant each fiscal year from 2027 through 2030. The nonprofit must operate statewide, have experience with child care facilities and helping providers meet legal work requirements, and use the funds to organize substitute pools in at least three regions of the state, including rural, suburban, and urban areas. The bill also allows the nonprofit to create a statewide digital matching platform and provide incentives to encourage participation.
The bill requires the nonprofit to recruit credentialed child care providers, help them satisfy criminal history, training, and education requirements, and assist them where possible in completing a registered early education apprenticeship. It also directs the nonprofit to organize participating child care facilities by region, maintain required records, and comply with department requirements. The Governor must include a $375,000 annual appropriation for the program in the budget for fiscal years 2027 through 2030.
The bill would add a new section to the Education Article and create a temporary, sunsetted pilot program rather than a permanent change to child care licensing law. It does not alter the underlying criminal history or credentialing standards for child care workers, but it creates a state-supported infrastructure to help qualified substitutes meet those standards and be deployed where needed. The Department must set annual goals and report to the General Assembly by December 1, 2029 on the program’s status and whether it met those goals.
Because there are no recorded committee transcripts or votes provided, there is no documented public debate or roll-call sentiment in the materials supplied. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears aimed at addressing child care staffing shortages and supporting operational stability in child care facilities, with likely support from child care advocates and providers. Potential points of contention would likely involve the cost of the grants and required appropriation, the use of a nonprofit administrator, and whether a pilot program is sufficient to address broader workforce shortages.
SB 868 would add a new provision to the Education Article creating a temporary Substitute Child Care Provider Pool Pilot Program administered by the State Department of Education. It would require annual state funding through fiscal year 2030, direct the Department to select and oversee a nonprofit operator, and establish reporting and goal-setting requirements. The bill would affect child care facilities, substitute providers, and the nonprofit entity selected to run the program, while leaving existing licensing, training, and criminal background check requirements in place.
No committee discussion transcripts or vote history were provided, so there is no direct record of legislative sentiment in the materials. On its face, the bill is framed as a workforce-support and child care-continuity measure, suggesting likely favorable sentiment among child care stakeholders and policymakers focused on access and staffing stability. Any opposition would likely center on fiscal cost, administrative structure, or whether the pilot’s scope is broad enough to justify the appropriation.
The main likely points of contention are fiscal and administrative. The bill requires a recurring state appropriation and grants to a nonprofit administrator, which could draw scrutiny from budget-minded legislators. Another possible issue is whether a nonprofit-run regional pool and digital matching platform are the best way to solve child care staffing shortages, versus direct wage support or broader workforce reforms. Stakeholders concerned with implementation may also question whether the program can recruit enough qualified substitutes across rural, suburban, and urban regions and whether the pilot’s limited duration will produce meaningful results.