Maryland EXCELS Marks Five Years of Supporting Military Families Through Military Child Care Program

October 2024 marks the fifth anniversary of Maryland EXCELS’s partnership with the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood-PLUS (MCCYN-PLUS) program. This Department of Defense (DoD) initiative offers assistance with child care costs to military families, enabling them to enroll their children in high-quality local child care programs.

Through this continued partnership, the DoD is expanding access to affordable early learning while ensuring military families benefit from programs that meet the highest quality standards, as evaluated by Maryland EXCELS, the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS).

“Our goal in the Division of Early Childhood is to provide families with equitable, affordable, and high-quality child care options,” said Dr. Shayna Cook, Assistant State Superintendent for the Maryland State Department of Education’s Division of Early Childhood. “The partnership between Maryland EXCELS and the Department of Defense helps us achieve this goal because it gives military families in Maryland increased access to early education programs throughout the state that maintain high standards of care. Service members can feel confident that their children will be in an environment where they can grow and develop with an optimal chance for success in school and in life.”

Before the launch of MCCYN-PLUS, only child care programs accredited by national organizations could enroll military families through MCCYN. This requirement often left military families struggling to find eligible child care options in their communities. In an effort to expand families’ access to affordable child care, the DoD turned to Maryland and Virginia as pilot states for recognizing Maryland Accreditation and quality ratings achieved through states’ Quality Rating and Improvement Systems.

Maryland EXCELS’s comprehensive standards for quality early learning and its support system for child care programs served as a model for the DoD as it expanded MCCYN-PLUS nationwide.

Today, a total of 14 states have joined the MCCYN-PLUS program. Despite its small size, Maryland boasts the second-highest participation rate in the nation, with 287 child care programs enrolled in MCCYN-PLUS, serving 606 military families across the state.

“We take great pride in the commitment that Maryland’s child care community has shown to providing the best early learning experiences for children of military families,” said Jena Smith, Director of Quality Improvement Initiatives with the Division of Early Childhood. “The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future supports this crucial partnership by providing funding for Maryland EXCELS bonuses, the Child Care Career and Professional Development Fund, and Accreditation Support Funds.  These funds allow early childhood professionals to purchase new learning materials for their programs, afford training and professional learning, and provide incentives to staff for maintaining excellent services.”

To ensure families are receiving services that meet DoD expectations for quality, child care programs must have a Maryland EXCELS Quality Rating 3 or higher to enroll in MCCYN-PLUS. The program must also be either currently accredited or pursuing accreditation. This standing ensures the program uses a developmentally appropriate curriculum and holds itself accountable for making improvements to services.

“Quality Rating and Improvement Systems such as Maryland EXCELS provide the Department of Defense with proof of a child care program’s quality, allowing us to broaden our network of enrolled programs without compromising the level of service we expect for our families,” said Nichele LeGrand-Murphy, Program Analyst for Child and Youth Programs Operations at the DoD.

More information about the MCCYN-PLUS program and how Maryland child care providers can enroll can be found online at https://www.childcareaware.org/standards-for-becoming-an-approved-mccyn-plus-provider-in-maryland/.

Licensed child care providers, Head Start programs, school-age only programs, and public prekindergarten programs can apply to participate in Maryland EXCELS and get started in earning quality ratings that qualify them to become a MCCYN-PLUS provider at https://excels.marylandexcels.org/. Child care programs in Maryland EXCELS are awarded a quality rating between one and five based on a review of their policies and practices. Programs that sign up for Maryland EXCELS have access to free training, one-on-one assistance, observation and feedback, peer support, and a toolkit of resources to help them meet research-based quality standards.

Maryland child care providers can learn the steps to pursue state accreditation, another requirement for enrolling in MCCYN-PLUS, at https://marylandexcels.org/maryland-accreditation/.

Military families seeking child care in their communities can find programs offering free assistance by visiting militarychildcare.com or searching the DoD Child Care Network. Maryland families can also visit marylandexcels.org or search the Maryland EXCELS directory to find local high-quality child care services.