Favorable
Committee: Ways & Means
SB0359
The Maryland Catholic Conference offers this testimony in support of Senate Bill 359. The Catholic Conference is the public policy representative of the three (arch)dioceses serving Maryland, which together encompass over one million Marylanders. Statewide, their parishes, schools, hospitals and numerous charities combine to form our state’s second largest social service provider network, behind only our state government. We offer this testimony on behalf of the families of more than 50,000 students served by over 150 PreK-12 Catholic schools in Maryland.
Senate Bill 359 would extend funding for the Therapeutic Child Care Grant Program, from FY2027 through FY2029. The purpose of the Program is to provide grants to providers that specialize in providing child care and early childhood education to children under the age of 6 years who have developmental delays, physical disabilities, or delays in social, emotional, or behavioral functioning. The Conference previously supported legislation to create the Program in 2022. Therein, funding was only mandated through FY2025. This legislation would ensure the existence of and funding for the program for three more fiscal years.
Children are the core of the family unit and any legislation that seeks to stabilize their child care environment should be considered a priority. Stable child care is an essential component to supporting strong, economically secure families. Moreover, enabling working parents’ continued access to child care services is an imperative part of combating poverty. Often, a barrier to sustainable and full-time employment is the availability and affordability of reliable child care services. The State should thus do all it can to support access to child care services for working parents.
This bill would provide specialized child care to those children who most need attention in addressing their cognitive, emotional, psychosocial and language development. Moreover, funding continuity is an important aspect in educating children with disabilities. It is for these reasons we request a favorable report on Senate Bill 359.