Day_Care_Point

Under Maryland law, a child care center is a facility operated by an individual, agency, or organization that offers child care services for part or all of the day, or on a 24-hour basis on a regular schedule, at least twice a week. For the purposes of this dataset, a child care center is a facility that is not set in a family home or approved via a letter of compliance. Such child care centers are regulated by the Maryland State Department of Education's Office of Child Care (OCC) under COMAR 13A.16 ("Licensed Child Care Centers"). There are a number of different programs found at these facilities, as described below. Often a facility will offer more than one of these services. Before/After-School care: School-Age child care offers cares to children enrolled in Kindergarten or above. Care is provided before/or after school and during school holidays/vacations. Programs may operate from a school building or other licensed facility. Known in the public elementary schools as the Before and After School Extended Learning Program (BASELP). Employer-sponsored: A child care center located on-site or off-site which is sponsored by a corporation, business, or other employer. Employees are given priority for enrollment slots. Nursery Schools: An instructional program for children who are two through four years old. The maximum length of the program is six hours per day, however most operate only a few hours per day and may meet only two or three times per week for a nine month period. Part Day or Pre-School: A program with an educational focus for children one or two years before entering kindergarten. These programs are usually two to three hours per day, two to three days per week, nine months per year. Pre-Kindergarten: These are publicly funded programs for eligible four-year-old children administered by local boards of education or qualified vendors. The programs have the overall goal of providing learning experiences to help children develop and maintain school readiness skills necessary for successful school performance. Local school systems, such as the Prince George’s County Public Schools, enroll all four-year old applicants from economically disadvantaged or homeless families.

A facility where child care is given to a child younger than thirteen years old or to a developmentally disabled person younger than twenty-one years old, in place of parental care for less than twenty-four hours a day, in a residence other than the child’s residence and for which the provider is paid. Regulations allow a family child care provider to care for a maximum of either eight or nine to twelve children at any time.

Some nursery schools and child care programs operated by tax-exempt religious organizations are eligible to be regulated by the MSDE’s Office of Child Care under COMAR 13A.17 ("Letters of Compliance"). A letter of compliance is a form of licensure that exempts the facility from having to meet certain staff qualification and program requirements. However, facilities licensed under a Letter of Compliance must meet all of the same health and safety requirements as those licensed as a Child Care Center.

Child care facility owned or operated by a local county, state, or federal government.

Child care facility owned or operated by a private entity, for profit or non-profit. Note that such a facility may be located within the grounds or building of a publicly-funded organization.