Integration of State Child Care and Early Education Programs in the Maryland State Department of Education

Current research consistently demonstrates that the foundations of lifelong learning and well-being are based on the experiences of early childhood, which form, in the words of the National Research Council, “either a sturdy or fragile stage for what follows.” Maryland has invested in many programs – from the Maryland Model for School Readiness to credentialing and accreditation for child care providers to Family Support Centers and Judy Centers – to improve the early experiences of the State’s children. These programs have the potential to move the State toward the achievement of one of its foremost goals – that all children arrive at school with the skills and competencies they need to succeed in school.

And yet, only 67% of incoming kindergartners in Maryland are assessed as ready to learn. Many of these children lack basic cognitive, social, and communication skills necessary to progress in school. They lack quality early education and care experiences that will give them the knowledge and skills they need to be successful during their early years in school, throughout their academic careers, and later in life.

The State’s early care and education programs face numerous challenges. One of these is that they have been spread among different State agencies. The early care and education programs, advocates argued, could get a no-cost boost in effectiveness if they were housed in a single agency that had as its core mission the continuum of learning from birth through high school.

In addition to becoming more effective, programs could well become more cost-efficient since a single agency would be able to eliminate duplicative administrative overhead, redundant training and technical assistance structures, and overlapping services. The result would be the delivery of more and better services for every dollar spent. The benefits of such a reorganization would be substantial:

1. All programs would be housed in an agency that approaches its work through an asset-based model, one that identifies strengths and builds on them.
2. The State’s involvement in early care would be understood as beneficial to all children, not just disadvantaged children.
3. Located in a single department, programs could more easily be aligned to support development from birth to completion of high school. The department being held accountable for children's educational achievement would be in a far stronger position to effect that goal.
4. Early education programs would be housed in a department that views their success as critical to the department’s core mission. This would ensure more reliable support from the administration, including more reliable funding.

Early care and education programs have been working in a State structure that does not convey these four advantages, and the negative potential of that situation was writ large in the 2003 Session of the General Assembly. Important early care and education programs housed in the Department of Human Resources (DHR) experienced budget cuts wildly disproportionate to overall cuts in the DHR budget – cuts which were rationalized, in part, by statements that child care is not part of DHR’s core mission. In the aftermath of cuts to child care and family support programs, advocates concluded that early care and education programs need to find a home within a department that gives priority to their work and shares their asset-based approach.

In the 2005 Session, MCC-supported legislation that was introduced to consolidate all the State’s child care and early education programs within the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). Although legislation of such magnitude invariably faces stern challenges, the overwhelming consensus in favor on the part of advocates, providers, and other allies won support from legislative leaders. The bill was amended, however, to leave the Child Care Subsidy Program under the control of DHR pending the results of an interim study. Following an intensive lobbying effort, the Governor signed bill. In February 2006, Governor Ehrlich completed the process by issuing an Executive Order transferring the Child Care Subsidy Program to MSDE.

The promise of this consolidation is tremendous. By joining early care and education programs with K through 12 education, the State will build on the ground-breaking contributions MSDE has already made in bridging K -12 to early care and education, e.g. the Judy Centers and Maryland Model for School Readiness. Furthermore, the move will allow MSDE to have purview over the full continuum of learning that affects educational outcomes – outcomes for which MSDE is being held accountable by the federal No Child Left Behind Act and Maryland's Bridge to Excellence Act. The new approach will extend the State’s commitment to educational best practices by stressing accountability, pursuing quality improvement through research-based programs, and achieving cohesiveness in a system that supports children and families in their growth and development during their formative years.

Unifying early childhood programs in MSDE will demonstrate Maryland's recognition of the critical importance of early care--and its commitment to children in the beginning stage of the continuum of their education.

Position

MCC should closely monitor the implementation of HB 932 and the consolidation of the Child Care Subsidy Program within MSDE. MSDE must be encouraged to maintain its commitment to supporting families and children in their growth and development during their formative years.
 

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