December 11th, 2021 by WCBC Radio
Maryland child care advocates told the comptroller’s workgroup examining pandemic stimulus spending that although the additional money has been critical in stabilizing their industry, they are still operating “razor-thin margins,” struggling to find qualified workers and want to receive aid faster.
Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D) called the state’s child care shortage and ongoing struggle to stay open the “worst example of government failure.”
“Child care is something that is connected to the overall economic prosperity of the state…we have to have child care,” he said.
WTOP reports since the pandemic hit the state in March 2020, Maryland has lost 751 child care providers. And child care centers continue to close due to decreased enrollment, increased expenses and staffing shortages, Christina Peusch, executive director of Maryland State Childcare Association, told the workgroup
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