BALTIMORE (June 12) – Family child care providers who participate in the state’s child care subsidy program settled a historic first contract today with the Governor’s Office and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). 

Providers, who are represented by SEIU Local 500, Kids First Maryland, achieved significant gains in their first contract, including a subsidy rate increase of nearly 3 percent on average; access to important decision-making committees in the child care system, including the Child Care Advisory Council; and the creation of a new Training Committee, comprised of state officials and child care providers, that will recommend future improvements.

The contract addresses long-standing provider concerns and creates a collaborative relationship that will benefit providers and the families they serve.  For instance, the state will now be held accountable for late payments to providers, and parents will not have their co-pays increased as a result of the agreement.

“Today the workers who help raise and educate Maryland’s most vulnerable children have taken a significant step toward gaining a seat at the table, where they can advocate for themselves and the children in their care – this is a win for providers and families,” said Merle Cuttitta, President of SEIU Local 500.  The majority of parents receiving state subsidies for their children’s care are single mothers entering the workforce or gaining an education through welfare-to-work programs.  They are concentrated in Maryland’s most underserved communities.

“I am proud to have been a part of this historic contract,” explains Madie Green, longtime Kids First Maryland leader, Local 500 Vice President of Child Care, and Prince George’s County family child care provider.  “I would like to thank the Governor’s office and MSDE for working diligently with us and a special thanks to everyone on the bargaining team.  I am just overwhelmed that it’s finally happened.  We worked so hard to get this first contract!”

During the debate over President Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill (ARRA), the two million-member Service Employees International Union worked to ensure funds went to help keep state child care subsidy programs afloat even during the current economic crisis.  This effort made a rate increase possible in spite of Maryland’s swelling deficits.

 “Once the contract is ratified,” continued Green, “we’re looking forward to sitting with the other stakeholders in child care and working together to be a strong voice for Maryland’s children.”

There remains much to be done to mend a system that for too long has pushed quality in-home child care providers out of business.  The number of family child care homes in Maryland dropped by 26 percent between 1997 and 2007, due in part to staggeringly low subsidy rates and lack of provider access to affordable health insurance and other benefits.  The contract creates additional avenues for addressing these issues, including the creation of a joint committee of state officials and union providers to further explore health care coverage options for family child care providers.

Still, provider-leaders are savoring the victory which they believe is a crucial milestone on their path to the professional respect and fair compensation that they deserve.

“I am so excited because we’ve worked so hard to get this,” said Crystal Barksdale, Kids First Maryland leader and family child care provider in Baltimore County. “We hung in there; it’s been more than four years.  We fought for it and now we’ve got it!  We’re really teaching a great lesson to the children in our care: you work hard and stick with it, and you can accomplish anything.”

Visit www.kidsfirstmaryland.org for more information.