Baltimore awards $300,000 to expand parenting, childcare support

Chevall Pryce, The Baltimore Sun on Aug 6, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

BALTIMORE — Parents in Baltimore will have another helping hand courtesy of the city government, with a $300,000 grant given to The Family Tree by the city on Wednesday to help strengthen families and prevent abuse.

The Board Estimates approved the grant on Wednesday, giving The Family Tree funding that will go directly to the Baltimore City Child Care Resource Center.

The BCCCRC provides free classes on healthy parenting, information on proper nutrition, education on child development and free access to childcare professionals. Training for early education professionals on intervention and coaching for childcare is also provided. BCCCRC is a corporation of the State of Maryland as well as The Family Tree, Inc.

The grant came from budget negotiations Baltimore city Council and Mayor Scott’s administration, with both entities wanting to improve parental help the city provides. The grant is meant to strengthen Baltimore’s early childhood development services according to the Board of Estimates agenda.

“The Baltimore City Child Care Resource Center fills essential gaps in early childhood education and development, this grant will go a long way toward improving outcomes for our residents and their families,” Zeke Cohen, Baltimore City Council president, said.

Over the years, Baltimore’s infant mortality rate has trended downward with less and less deaths since 2001, where there were 13.5 deaths per 100 live births according to a study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In 2021, the infant death rate went down to 7.5 deaths per 1,000 live births. In 2023, the infant mortality rate for Maryland was 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births according to March of Dimes.

As the U.S.’s economic woes weigh on Baltimoreans Cohen said the BCCCRC getting this funding to provide resources is a boon for the community at large. According to a 2026 study from LendingTree, Baltimore is the second most expensive state to raise a child, with an average annual cost of up to $36,419 for the first five years.

“As a relatively young dad who has borne the cost of child care, it is monstrously expensive,” Cohen said. “We’re living in a moment where families are living paycheck to paycheck and we know that when it comes to preschool, when it comes to early childhood education, when it comes to child care, there is no better investment than that we could make.”

Other Baltimore organizations are also trying to improve conditions for new parents as well. The Baltimore Baby Fund, proposed by the Maryland Child Alliance, reached requirements needed to put the fund on the the Nov. 3 ballot.

If approved by voters, the fund would give City Council the ability to use a fund, equal to 0.03% of Baltimore’s taxable property values, or $15 million, on services meant to improve the wellbeing of families with newborn children.

Mayor Scott said that, as a parent himself, he sees how the grant benefits parents who may be inexperienced without family to lean on or lacking funds.

“We know, for some people, they don’t have the resources to do what we do every day and have the great care for them,” Scott said. “This is going to help more families be able to achieve that uh for their for their young ones.”

--------------