During Friday’s Child Care Provider Appreciation Day, Montgomery County officials took time out to thank those involved with the 1,271 licensed child care programs in the county that serve about 40,000 children.
Of the 1,271 licensed facilities, 789 are family operations and 482 are centers and faith-based organizations.
Child Care Provider Appreciation Day is celebrated each year on the Friday before Mother’s Day.
“This year, Child Care Provider Appreciation Day takes on even greater significance,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “Long before the pandemic, we recognized our child care providers as essential, and the past year has further highlighted the critical role they play in our community. We owe a huge debt of gratitude for their sacrifices and will continue to do everything we can to support them as we move towards recovery.”
Councilmember Nancy Navarro agreed, noting, “Early care and education have been pivotal and necessary component of our economy; during the pandemic, this sector has continued to play a key role in providing families the support they need. It hasn’t been easy for our provider community, but we are grateful for their work and collaboration to reopen and stay open safely.”
She added, “As we move toward our recovery and reopening efforts, it will be critical that a healthy, stable childcare system is ready when an entire workforce resumes in-person operations. We must continue to build on our Early Care and Education Initiative efforts to ensure that quality, accessible, and affordable early care and education remains at the top of our agenda and our childcare providers receive the support they need.”
During the pandemic, the county provided supplemental tuition to help cover child care costs. It also provided $10 million to help offset financial losses to child care facilities which either closed or were forced to accept fewer children due to the pandemic. According to the county, 64% of regulated child care programs were closed at some point during the pandemic.
The county also provided $1.8 million to support reopening for full day, school-age child care in Montgomery County Public School buildings and $5.6 million in tuition assistance for these families. In addition, the county supplied personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies at no cost.
The Montgomery County’s Child Care Resources and Referral Center includes information for parents and child care providers.
Looking for an easy way to join in on today's #ProviderAppreciationDay celebrations? Join us at 1 pm ET for a Twitter chat. Look for the questions from this account and tweet using #ThankYouChildCare. It's just one way to bring awareness to all that #childcare providers do! pic.twitter.com/Lm4bquApaC
— Child Care Aware of America (@ChildCareAware) May 7, 2021
