The number of child care providers in Kent County stayed the same between Jan. 1, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2024, although the number fell prior to 2020 and fluctuated somewhat between 2021 and 2023. Kent County was one of three counties in the state that did not see a decrease in the number of child care providers between 2020 and 2024.
Meanwhile, the number of child care slots in Kent County increased from 343 on Jan. 1, 2020, to 387 on Jan. 1, 2024. That’s a 12.83% increase — the only increase in the state. However, the number of available child care slots in the county fluctuated year by year.
The number of top-rated child care facilities -- those with a rating of 5 on the state's EXCELS rating system -- in the county fell from two in early 2020 to one early this year.
Here's what Elizabeth Greenwell of Kinder Connection, an early learning center in Betterton, had to say about child care in the county at a recent public hearing:
"There's a crisis in Maryland of waitlists that are so long for infant spots."
-- Jenna Bloom and Jerry Zremski