Updates to Maryland’s Child Care Scholarship Program
The Child Care Scholarship (CCS) program helps eligible families in Maryland pay for high-quality child care and early education programs. CCS has been under a partial enrollment freeze since May 1, 2026, because demand exceeds available funding. Families are still encouraged to apply during this time, as the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), which runs the program, maintains a waitlist and enrolls families from the waitlist when funds become available.
During this year’s legislative session, Maryland leaders allocated an additional $20 million to the CCS program and made several changes to the CCS program, in an effort to provide guidance on how to govern the waitlist and to serve as many families as possible.
Key Legislative Changes
Homeless exemption from waitlist – families that are experiencing homelessness are now exempt from the waitlist and can be enrolled in the program. This summer, MSDE reached out to all families on the waitlist to notify them of this change and enrolled eligible homeless families. 303 homeless children were enrolled from the waitlist this summer.
Now, the following groups are exempt from the waitlist:
An individual or family enrolled in Temporary Cash Assistance or the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program;
A child, parent, or caregiver enrolled in the federal Supplemental Security Income Program;
The sibling of a child enrolled in the program;
A child who is homeless
Waitlist prioritization order – the legislature prioritized which families to enroll from the waitlist as funding becomes available.
If there is a CCS waitlist, MSDE will provide scholarships to qualified applicants in the following order of priority:
Applicants with the greatest financial need, based on annual household income.
Applicants who work at least 20 hours a week as an employee or operator of a child care center, family child care home, a large family child care home, or an eligible publicly funded prekindergarten (Pre-K) program that accepts children enrolled in CCS.*
Applicants enrolling a child under the age of 3 years.
Applicants who have been on the waitlist the longest.
*MSDE has determined that they must develop a new check box on the CCS application to collect information necessary to determine whether someone is employed in an eligible ECE center or program setting. MSDE has started work on this update and does not have a timeline for completion. MSDE is continuing to enroll other eligible applicants prioritized on this list in the meantime.
Sliding scale copayment structure – the legislature authorized MSDE to set a sliding scale copayment structure. Read more details on copays here.
Here are some things to know about the new copayments:
The new process will go into effect January 1, 2027 and will be implemented for new enrollees and for families as they go through redetermination.
MSDE will give families and child care providers 90 days notice before the process starts.
Copayments will be based on the family income using a sliding fee scale; MSDE will calculate the copayment and notify the family of the amount. Copayments will not exceed 7% of a household’s income.
Some families will be exempt from copayments. This includes individuals with an annual household income at or below the federal poverty line; families that receive WIC, SNAP, housing choice vouchers, SSI, or TCA; and families participating in the Youth Transition from Foster Placement to Successful Adulthood Program.
MSDE will subtract the family’s copayment from the CCS payment made to the provider, and the family will then pay their copayment amount directly to their child care provider.
Other legislative requirements – MSDE must complete several activities to streamline and improve the program. These include:
Developing a new, user-friendly application that will help identify child care workers to comply with new prioritization requirements
Identifying and sharing information about tax credits and benefits for families
Notifying families this summer of Pre-K programs in their communities
Work is underway to develop a centralized enrollment system for Pre-K
Developing a report on alternative methodologies for determining job search
Key Points from Children’s Opportunity Alliance
The Child Care Scholarship program is essential to helping eligible families afford high-quality child care, allowing parents to work or pursue education while ensuring their children have access to safe, nurturing early learning environments that support their development and future success.
Even in a tough budget year, the state should allocate sufficient funding to meet the growing demand. Research has shown that there is a high return on investment for money invested in quality early childhood programming. We need more advocates to reach out to elected officials, requesting increased funding for Child Care Scholarship.
The recent legislative changes should hopefully improve the program and allow more families to benefit from the limited funding. But change can be hard. Please spread the word about these changes to families and educators, so that no one is surprised as they begin to take effect.
Families that are on the CCS waitlist can be served by Montgomery County’s Working Parents Assistance program while they wait. Encourage families to apply for CCS even while the partial enrollment freeze is in effect, and then to reach out to WPA for support (call 240-777-1177).