The number of child care providers in Prince George’s County fell 18.03% between Jan. 1, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2024. That’s the eighth largest decrease in the state.
Meanwhile, the number of child care slots in Prince George’s County decreased from 29,401 on Jan. 1, 2020, to 25,800 on Jan. 1, 2024. That’s a 12.25% decrease — the seventh largest 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 -- actually grew in Prince George's County from 22 in early 2020 to 40 early this year.
Here’s what Flora Gee, pedagogical administrator at Greenbelt Children's Center, had to say about the child care situation in the county:
"The pandemic has created an complete crisis in staffing. It was always difficult to find high quality early educators to work in child care before the pandemic, but since the pandemic, there is such a void of qualified early childhood educators -- and the public school is having the same problem."
– Jess Daninhirsch