The number of child care providers in Baltimore County fell 18.16% between Jan. 1, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2024. That’s the seventh largest decrease in the state.
Meanwhile, the number of child care slots in Baltimore County decreased from 30,625 on Jan. 1, 2020, to 28,804 on Jan. 1, 2024. That’s a 5.95% decrease — the ninth smallest decrease in the state.
However, the number of top-rated child care facilities -- those with a rating of 5 on the state's EXCELS rating system -- increased from 35 to 39 in Baltimore County between 2020 and 2024.
Here’s what Brenda Velez-Jimenez, licensed family child care provider and owner of Brenda’s Little Monkey Daycare, had to say about the child care situation in Baltimore County:
“Because of the regulations and because of the guidelines that surround children under the age of 2, many of the providers and centers are no longer taking infants, which is making it harder to find infant care or child care for children under 2 throughout the state of Maryland, not just Baltimore."
– Fiona Flowers