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Delegate Barnes, co-sponsor McAskill seek to loosen child-care ratios, file amendments to the bill
Summary
Sponsors told the Ways and Means Committee that House Bill 477 would expand child-to-provider ratios in family child-care homes and child-care centers and asked MSDE to study out‑of‑state practices; stakeholders urged caution, citing workforce stress and infant care challenges. No vote was taken; the item was heard as a bill hearing.
House Bill 477, introduced to the Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 5, would relax statutory limits on the number of children per caregiver in family child‑care homes and child‑care centers and require the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to study how other states set ratios for family providers and recommend changes.
Sponsor remarks framed the measure as a cost‑containment and access tool for the state'funded child‑care scholarship program. "Our state ratio of childcare providers to children is so low compared to our peers," Delegate Barnes told the committee, adding that the state's scholarship program has grown rapidly and that the committee…
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