New Howard County center provides free childcare programs for low-income families, student parents

COLUMBIA -- A new Howard County center is helping families get childcare and early childhood development services for free.

It's particularly helping low-income families and parents who are in school.

One of them is Arika Anthony, she's a full-time student at Howard Community College. She's in the second semester of her two-year early childhood development program.

Anthony is also a single mom of a three-year-old and an eighth-grader.

She said finding affordable childcare is really difficult, but it was made possible with the help of the Children's Learning Center on campus.

The CLC provides childcare, as well as Head Start and pre-K programs at no cost.

Anthony never thought she'd go back to school.

"I graduated [high school] in 2010 and I'm just going back," she said.

It's the same for Titilola Tenimowo. She just completed a program at HCC and will soon start another.

Tenimowo said she's only able to do this because of the CLC.

"My life was on hold for like seven years because childcare is expensive," she said.

The CLC, which opened its doors on Aug. 28, is run by the Community Action Council of Howard County, or CAC. It was created through partnerships with the Howard County government and HCC.

Howard County American Rescue Plan Act funds covered the costs for the CLC.

Childcare costs in Maryland

In its 2024 Child Care Demographics report , the Maryland Family Network found Marylanders, on average, spent nearly 26% of their median income just on childcare alone in 2023.

Families in Howard County spent nearly 20% of their median income on childcare. Meanwhile, families in Baltimore City spent around 31.5% of their median income on childcare.

Helping more families

The CLC is CAC's fifth early childhood education center, meaning they can now help over 400 children and their families with these services.

In Howard County, there are around 20,000 children under the age of five, according to County Executive Dr. Calvin Ball.

However, there are only around 10,000 spots for childcare programs.

"By the opening of the CLC, we are just once again moving that needle to address this need," said Tracy Broccolino, president of CAC. "Not only is there a shortage of slots, there's a shortage of affordable options for families. The cost of childcare rivals the cost of housing."

Broccolino said they have hundreds of families hoping to get a spot for their services in the future. CAC is working to secure more funding to open more, knowing the impact these programs are having.

"[These services] mean the world to me, to be able to do this," Anthony said.

The CAC plans to start accepting children under three years old for childcare services at the CLC soon.

To learn more about CAC's early childhood education services, visit their website here .