Child Care Expansion: The Workforce Move States Need

A single number should change how you think about workforce development: child care programs in one major county report enough infant and toddler seats for just 19% of children under age 2. That’s not a “family issue.” That’s a labor supply issue.

When parents can’t find reliable infant care, they don’t just “make it work.” They reduce hours, turn down promotions, skip training programs, or leave the workforce entirely. In our Education, Skills, and Workforce Development series, we often talk about upskilling, apprenticeships, and credential pathways. Here’s the blunt truth: those pathways fail if families can’t secure child care first.

Montgomery County, Maryland is worth watching because it’s treating child care like infrastructure. Not a perk. Not charity. Infrastructure—built with targeted funding, capacity expansion, and quality improvements.

Montgomery County’s $10M plan is really a labor force strategy

Answer first: Montgomery County’s new investment shows how local governments can expand child care access quickly while improving program quality—two ingredients that directly increase parents’ ability to work and train.

The county launched two initiatives backed by a $10 million investment:

• $6.1 million to expand Head Start and Early Head Start access
• $4 million for an Early Childhood Education (ECE) facility loan program to add seats and improve quality

On paper, that looks like early childhood policy. In practice, it’s a workforce participation policy.

The “provider vs. educator” problem is a workforce problem, too

Jennifer Nicholls, who runs a home-based preschool program serving a dozen children, put it plainly: people call early childhood professionals “babysitters,” but they’re educators. That misconception has consequences.

When we undervalue early educators, we get:

• Lower wages and higher turnover
• Fewer people entering the early childhood workforce
• Lower program stability (closures, waitlists, reduced hours)

That instability ripples outward. If a parent’s child care closes with two weeks’ notice, that parent’s job performance (and sometimes employment) collapses along with it.

The infant bottleneck is the hidden drag on employment

The county’s planning work was catalyzed by a data point that’s easy to miss in statewide averages: capacity for infants and toddlers is dramatically lower than capacity for preschoolers.

In the Montgomery County analysis cited in the original reporting:

• Infant/toddler slots cover 19% of the under-2 population
• Capacity for ages 2–5 is closer to 83%

This gap matters because infant care is the “make-or-break” stage for many families. If you can’t place a baby, you can’t return to work—or you return and spend months patching together unstable arrangements.

Why Early Head Start funding punches above its weight

Answer first: Early Head Start does more than subsidize care—it strengthens the support network around families and providers, which improves retention for parents in jobs and training.

Nicholls applied for Early Head Start support. Even if she enrolls one Early Head Start child, she noted that the program can connect her whole community of families to resources like medical screenings and related services.

That’s a subtle but powerful point for workforce leaders: wraparound services reduce absenteeism and job churn.

Here’s what “wraparound” means in real life:

• A developmental screening catches a concern early
• A family gets connected to services without waiting months
• Fewer crisis days off work
• More consistent attendance for parents in jobs, credential programs, and apprenticeships

If your organization invests heavily in training and still struggles with completion rates, child care instability is often part of the story.

Federal uncertainty is pushing local innovation

The larger backdrop is messy: national efforts to overhaul child care funding have stalled, and programs like Head Start have faced flat funding pressures and political uncertainty. When federal investment holds steady—or pulls back—states and counties either compensate or accept a shrinking system.

Montgomery County’s approach is notable because it blends:

• Program expansion dollars (Head Start/Early Head Start)
• Capital support (facility loans for quality and capacity)
• Business sustainability tools (tax relief ideas and operational supports)

That’s closer to an “economic development stack” than a one-time grant.

Facility loans may be the most practical tool in the toolbox

Answer first: A loan program for child care facilities targets the bottleneck that blocks rapid expansion—physical space, licensing upgrades, and quality improvements.

Many child care expansion conversations get stuck at staffing (which is real), but the other constraint is painfully basic: space. You can’t add seats without bathrooms, safe outdoor areas, compliant classrooms, and licensing requirements.

Montgomery County’s $4 million ECE Facility Loan program is designed for exactly that. Nicholls wants to re-fence, re-mulch, and update an outdoor playground—improvements that may not sound “strategic” until you remember that quality and safety are what keep families enrolled and providers open.

Quality is not a luxury; it’s retention

In workforce terms, quality is about retention on both sides:

• Parent retention: Families stick with arrangements that are safe, enriching, and reliable.
• Workforce retention: Early educators stay longer in environments that have adequate materials, safe facilities, and manageable stress.

Quality also affects “last mile” workforce participation. Parents don’t just need a slot; they need a slot they can trust enough to show up to work, focus, and commit to long-term training.

States keep expanding pre-K—infant care is the harder (and more urgent) fight

Answer first: Universal pre-K expansions are important, but they don’t solve the workforce participation crunch if infant and toddler care remains scarce and expensive.

Across the U.S., states are expanding public pre-K and preschool access. That’s politically popular and financially simpler: older children have higher ratios and lower per-child costs.

Infant care is different. Regulations and best practices often require ratios like one adult to four babies (varies by state). That staffing intensity makes infant care the most expensive and hardest to scale.

So here’s the stance I’ll take: a workforce strategy that focuses only on pre-K is incomplete.

If policymakers want parents—especially women—to re-enter and stay in the workforce, infant and toddler care needs equal attention.

The “workforce behind the workforce” isn’t a slogan

Child care is frequently described as the workforce behind the workforce. That phrase can sound like advocacy fluff until you map it to outcomes your organization already tracks:

• Employee absenteeism
• Schedule instability
• Turnover in entry-level roles
• Training cohort drop-off
• Reduced overtime availability

Child care capacity directly influences all of them.

A practical blueprint other communities can copy

Answer first: Communities can replicate Montgomery County’s momentum by using data to define the capacity gap, setting a clear “North Star,” and funding both seats and stability.

If you’re in a city, county, school system, workforce board, or employer coalition looking to reduce hiring friction, here’s a playbook that works in the real world.

1) Start with a “supply vs. demand” map (and don’t average it away)

Averages hide pain. You need neighborhood-level data on:

• Infant, toddler, and preschool seat supply
• Hours offered (care that ends at 2:30 p.m. doesn’t match most jobs)
• Price bands vs. local wages
• Closure rates and provider turnover

The most useful output is a simple statement like: “We can serve X% of children under 2.” It creates urgency, and it’s measurable.

2) Fund capacity and quality at the same time

Expanding access without quality leads to churn and reputational harm. Improving quality without adding seats leaves waitlists untouched.

A balanced local investment often includes:

• Capital improvements (loans or grants)
• Quality supports (materials, outdoor spaces, safety upgrades)
• Operational stabilization (tax relief, shared services, back-office support)

3) Treat early educators as a skilled workforce

If your region has “skills shortages,” you can’t ignore the shortage in early education.

A serious strategy includes:

• Wage progression tied to credentials
• Paid training time (not “do it on your own”)
• Career ladders that don’t force great educators out of classrooms
• Cohort-based professional development (it reduces isolation)

4) Connect child care policy to training completion and job placement

Workforce leaders should stop treating child care as external. Build it into program design:

• Offer child care stipends for participants in credential programs
• Align class schedules with child care hours
• Partner with providers near training sites and major employers
• Track child care as a barrier in intake data (then fund the fix)

This is where lead generation becomes natural: organizations that can coordinate training, employer needs, and family supports become the obvious partner for public agencies and employers.

What employers and workforce organizations should do in Q1 2026

Answer first: If you want higher retention and faster hiring, make child care part of your workforce plan—through partnerships, subsidies, and local policy support.

December is when many teams set budgets and operating plans. Here are concrete moves to consider early in 2026:

1. Audit your attrition reasons and quantify how often child care shows up (directly or indirectly).
2. Co-invest locally with chambers, counties, or nonprofit lenders in facility upgrades that create more seats.
3. Support infant/toddler capacity specifically; it’s where the shortage is most acute.
4. Pilot “training + child care” cohorts so parents can actually finish.
5. Use predictable funding where possible. Volatile revenue streams can grow programs quickly—and cut them just as fast.

One strong sentence to keep on your planning slide deck: If parents can’t secure child care, the talent pipeline is imaginary.

The bigger story: child care is education policy and economic policy

Montgomery County’s approach is a signal that local governments are willing to build solutions when federal funding is uncertain. It’s also a reminder for anyone working in education and workforce development: the earliest years are part of the skills pipeline.

If your region is serious about labor force participation, credential attainment, and long-term economic competitiveness, child care capacity—especially for infants and toddlers—belongs on the same priority list as community college programs and employer-led training.

What would change in your local workforce numbers if the community could serve not 19%, but 40% of infants and toddlers with stable, high-quality care?