# Child care is getting in the way of work

MD Eagles | https://mdeagles.com/problems/child-care-and-work
Reviewed November 5, 2026. Proposals, not proven solutions.

## Evidence
Baltimore’s 2025 early childhood landscape analysis describes child care disrupting work and education among families in the Baltimore Young Families Success Fund study. This is evidence from that study, not a measure of every family in the city.
Source: https://ecacbaltimore.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2025-Baltimore-City-ECAC-Landscape-Analysis.pdf

## Ideas to test
### An employer and provider care pilot
Bring a local employer and a licensed child care provider together to test whether a small block of funded care hours fits parents’ shifts. Establish staffing, licensing and costs with the provider before offering places.

### A practical care search service
Help families use existing referral services, record where the search breaks down, and share verified availability with permission. Build a new tool only if existing services cannot address the gap.

## First step
Speak with five parents about the last time care disrupted work. Ask whether cost, opening hours, location or availability was the deciding barrier. Do not assume all four need the same solution.

## People to involve
Parents, licensed providers and an employer in one Baltimore neighborhood.

## Measure
Whether participating parents find suitable care and report fewer shifts missed because of care.

## Existing service
https://marylandfamilynetwork.org/our-work/locate-child-care/

## Your local project notes
- City or county:
- What residents told us (with permission):
- Existing services and the remaining gap:
- Smallest useful test:
- Who will run it:
- Costs and required permissions:
- How we will measure improvement:
- Review date and reasons to stop or change direction: