How We Partner With Advocates
Standing Up for Maryland’s Youngest Children and Those Who Care for Them
As Maryland’s leading statewide child advocacy organization, Maryland Family Network ensures that young children have the resources and opportunities they need to thrive. We also work to support the families, child care providers, and other caregivers in their lives. Our policy work prioritizes expanding mixed delivery early care and education to support workforce participation, fortifying the state’s two-generation family support infrastructure, and ensuring the economic stability and well-being of Maryland’s youngest residents during their most critical first five years.
We partner with coalitions across the state, including Poverty Free MD; Time to Care Coalition; Maryland Tax Credits for Families Coalition; and Blueprint Coalition.
Our Work This Session
During the 2026 Legislative Session, MFN’s public policy work is focused on:
- Mitigating the impact of federal policy changes and funding reductions
- Protecting programs that support young children and families from harmful cuts
- Sustaining investments in early childhood programs
- Advocating for continued funding for affordable, accessible early childhood programs, the Child Care Scholarship Program, and public Pre-K
- Advancing proven supports in the first five years
- Promoting strategies like home visiting and early interventions that best support families during pregnancy and children’s first five years
2026 Bills We Support/Oppose
This section will be updated throughout the session.
2026 Legislative Testimony
This section will be updated throughout the session.
Our Top Legislative Priorities
Early Care and Education
Every child deserves access to high-quality early learning experiences that set them up for success in school and in life.
Family Supports & Economic Security
Strong families are the foundation of thriving communities. MFN advocates for a two-generation approach that supports both children and the adults who care for them.
Early Childhood Physical and Mental Health
A child’s first five years lay the foundation for lifelong health and well-being. MFN works to support children and caregivers from prenatal care through early childhood.
Early Care and Education Priorities
Expanding Pre-K
Championing policies that increase access to high-quality Pre-K programs across the state.
Strengthening Child Care
Advocating for common-sense regulations that keep child care settings safe, healthy, and enriching for young children.
Helping Parents Navigate Care
Helping families find and choose quality child care and develop the skills they need to raise healthy, thriving children.
Supporting Providers
Providing essential training, technical assistance, and coaching to child care providers, home visitors, and family support staff — elevating quality statewide.
Informing Policy with Data
Collecting and analyzing statewide child care data, in collaboration with the Maryland State Department of Education, to identify trends, child care deserts, and gaps in access — and using that data to guide better policy-making and streamline administrative support.
Family & Economic Security Priorities
Paid Family & Medical Leave
Leading advocacy for effective implementation of Maryland’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program (Time to Care Act), so workers can care for a new child or sick loved one without risking their livelihoods.
Making Child Care Affordable
Fighting for increased funding and expanded eligibility for the Child Care Scholarship (CCS) program.
Family Economic Stability
Supporting programs and policies that strengthen family economic stability — including strengthening safety net programs, protecting cash benefits, and the Child Tax Credit.
Early Intervention & Parenting Support
Championing programs that offer parents the support they need and want to support their parenting, work, and education goals.
Early Childhood Physical and Mental Health Priorities
Expanding Home Visiting
Supporting continued and expanded funding for high-quality, research-based home visiting programs that provide vital support to new and expectant parents.
Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health
Advocating for increased access to infant and early childhood mental health consultation so families and providers can support young children’s social-emotional development.
Promoting Health & Safety
Championing policies that promote physical health, safety, and nutrition in all early childhood settings.
Strengthening Early Intervention Systems
Ensuring children with developmental delays or disabilities are identified early and connected to high-quality services.
Sign Up For Public Policy Alerts
Every policy starts with people who care enough to speak up. Whether you’re a parent, provider, community member, or partner, you have a role in shaping Maryland’s future.
Our Accomplishments
- Championed the expansion of Pre-K
- Fought to sustain critical investments in child care, early education, and family supports
- Led the effort to pass the Time to Care Act, resulting in one of the nation’s strongest family and medical leave insurance programs
- Helped consolidate early care and education programs within the Maryland State Department of Education
- Successfully raised the eligibility floor and benefit levels for the Child Care Scholarship to historic highs
2025 Key Victories
Child Care Scholarship Program
MFN strongly opposed freezing enrollment and delaying updates to provider reimbursement rates to reflect the true cost of care. The Department of Education intends to freeze enrollment starting May 1, 2025 and cap enrollment at around 40,000 children for the remainder of FY 2026. In addition, provider reimbursement rates will not be updated until March 2026. MFN continues to advocate for full access to the Scholarship Program and adequate reimbursement so providers can sustain high-quality care.
Protecting Pre-K Access & Supporting Mixed Delivery
MFN helped stave off reductions in pre-K access. The General Assembly rejected a proposal to limit the number of families eligible for public pre-K, and a proposal to delay a per-pupil funding increase was also rejected. MFN successfully advocated for the State to maintain its commitment to pre-K and for improvements to the mixed delivery model so community-based child care providers can participate more fully. Legislation passed instructing the Department of Education to study and report on barriers to child care providers’ participation in public pre-K (HB 1475).
Guarding Against Child Care Deregulation & Supporting Early Educators
MFN opposed a proposal to increase the number of infants one provider can care for — a change that would have jeopardized child health and safety. The bill was amended to stop ratio changes and instead require a comprehensive review of child care regulations (HB 477 passed).
MFN also supported policies to lift up early educators, including: facilitating access to health insurance (HB 859 passed); increasing access to property tax credits (HB 389 / SB 516 passed); exploring a statewide substitute pool (HB 1325 / SB 868 did not pass); and removing zoning restrictions that limit family child care homes (HB 785 passed).
Protecting Safety Net Programs for Low-Income Families
MFN supported child support pass-through and disregard, allowing child support payments to benefit children directly and encouraging parental engagement. This change will be phased in starting FY 2028 (HB 881 passed). MFN also successfully opposed harmful budget amendments that would have limited families’ ability to seek reimbursement when benefits are stolen due to fraud or that would have automatically reduced or eliminated Medicaid if federal funds were cut.
Advancing Home Visiting
A proposal to expand a universal newborn nurse home visiting program statewide was amended to establish a work group on home visiting services. The workgroup is assessing Maryland’s home visiting landscape, identifying gaps and funding sources, with MFN playing a key leadership role (HB 334 / SB 156 passed).
Family & Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Implementation
The Administration chose to delay contributions and benefits for the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program. MFN and the Time to Care Coalition opposed the delay and advocated to reconsider the maximum benefit level. The General Assembly voted to support the delay (HB 102 passed). MFN remains committed to making sure paid leave delivers on its promise for Maryland families.
Spotlights
Workgroup on Newborn Home Visiting Services
On May 20, 2025, Governor Moore signed legislation establishing the Maryland Workgroup on Newborn Home Visiting Services, with a report of findings and recommendations due to be submitted by December 31, 2025.
Purpose:
This workgroup brings together state government, health providers, insurers, and evidence-based home-visiting programs. It will also listen to families with newborns to ensure their voices inform the work.
Key Responsibilities:
- Compile participant and cost-per-participant data from existing home-visiting programs.
- Compare Maryland’s programs with proven universal nurse home-visiting models.
- Identify service gaps between evidence-based models and current programs.
- Explore ways to align existing programs with best practices.
- Identify potential funding to address service gaps.
- Assess workforce needs, including cultural-competency requirements, and develop recommendations.
We Want Your Input
Have questions or comments? We welcome input from families, providers, and the public.
Growing Opportunities for Family Child Care (GOFCC)
The Growing Opportunities for Family Child Care (GOFCC) program started in 2015 in Montgomery County in response to a critical shortage of home-based child care providers. GOFCC recruits and supports new family child care providers as they go through licensing and registration.
Key Milestones:
- In 2021, HB 944 and SB 7111 mandated funding to expand GOFCC statewide.
- MFN works with the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to oversee and coordinate grants to five agencies to operate local GOFCC programs.
- MFN secured additional funding through a Small Business Administration federal earmark in FY 2024 and $450,000 for FY 2025–26 through HB 1139 / SB 882.
GOFCC is critical to reversing the decline in family child care providers and ensuring accessible, affordable care options for Maryland families.
Paid Family & Medical Leave (FAMLI)
MFN is a founding member and current manager of the Time to Care Coalition, which has championed paid family and medical leave since 2019.
The Time to Care law passed in 2022, creating the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program, but implementation has been delayed until 2028.
MFN and the Time to Care Coalition continue to advocate for:
- A timely and effective rollout of FAMLI
- Adequate benefit levels
- A system that truly works for low- and moderate-income families
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