Maryland law protects some families during child care scholarship freezes

The Department may not apply an enrollment freeze to certain people. The exceptions cover people in specified cash or disability support programs; a child with a sibling already enrolled; people who recently lost a job and would have qualified before losing it; certain government workers furloughed without pay for more than seven consecutive days; child care employees; and children who are homeless. People covered by an exception must still meet the program’s other enrollment criteria. These exceptions apply whenever the Department puts an enrollment freeze in place.

The Department must keep a waitlist and award openings by priority. The list covers eligible people who apply after a freeze begins. Priority goes first to those with the greatest financial need, then certain child care workers, then applicants enrolling a child under age 3, and then those who have waited longest. The Department must establish the list if a freeze is in effect and there are fewer available awards than eligible applicants. The list stays in place while eligible applicants outnumber available awards. The temporary focus on other prioritized applicants lasts until the new application is developed.

The Department must develop an application that asks about certain child care jobs. The application must ask whether an applicant works at least 20 hours a week for a child care center, family child care home, large family child care home, or eligible publicly funded prekindergarten program that accepts scholarship recipients. The Department must focus on other eligible applicants with priority on the waitlist until it develops the new application.