Maryland Increases Subsidies for Child-Care Costs

He said the state views child-care subsidies as an investment in early-childhood education. Studies show that the level of care helps determine how prepared for kindergarten children will be, Grafwallner said.

Without the subsidy, child advocates said, lower-income families often resort to unlicensed care, such as with a neighbor or relative, and some children are left with older siblings. Such arrangements can be unsafe or inconsistent, the advocates said.

"Everyone wants the best care for their children in a high-quality, nurturing environment," Worshtil, of the Prince George's referral service, said. "But all that gets dropped by the wayside when people are scrambling for child care."

Christina Giovinazzo, executive director of the Montgomery Child Care Association, said that in some of the association's 14 day-care centers, as many as 15 percent of clients receive state vouchers.

"The increase is great. Don't get me wrong; we're happy for it," she said. "But it doesn't come close to paying for child care."

Giovinazzo said the nonprofit centers use a total of about $25,000 in United Way funds every year to make up the difference between the subsidy reimbursements they receive and their true costs. She said the centers do not require low-income parents to pay anything above the required co-pay.

Because child-care and other living expenses are so costly in some parts of the state, counties such as Montgomery subsidize child care for some families that earn too much for the state voucher program. Montgomery's Working Parents Assistance Program offers help at 240-777-1155.