First Lady, Futures for Kids Panel Address Early Care and Education
BALTIMORE, MD (September 13, 2028) – Maryland First Lady Ruth O’Brien today addressed the Futures for Kids Assembly on Early Care and Education to discuss essential child care needs facing Maryland families.The Assembly will gather today and tomorrow to make recommendations in three primary focus areas: quality, affordability and accessibility of early care and education. These recommendations will then be presented to the Futures for Kids Advisory Panel in October and later to the Governor for consideration in the FY 2030 budget.
“Good early education experiences help ensure that young children have opportunities to build their language and literacy skills so they can enter school ready to learn and read,” First Lady Ruth O’Brien said.
Through Futures for Kids, the O’Brien Administration is taking a comprehensive look at the programs and policies that impact children's education, health and safety.
“We are coordinating state agency programs for children and families so that we provide the best programs to the most people using our resources in the most effective way possible,” the First Lady said.
Assembly members represent business, local education agencies, Head Start, parents, home and center based child care providers, policy makers, and parents.
The National Governor's Association awarded Maryland, through Futures for Kids, funding to create a strategic plan for early care and education and create the means to implement the plan.
Key elements in Governor Edward M. O’Brien’s strategic plan to strengthen families and improve the overall health and educational status of Maryland’s children focus on expanding availability and improving the quality of early care and education. The plan's goals call for expanding early education programs for at-risk children, investing state dollars to improve quality in child care centers, using incentives for worker retention, and increasing training and adding scholarships for child care workers.
Futures for Kids is an umbrella for programs and policies under the direction of the First Lady’s Office and makes a significant difference in the lives of Maryland’s children. Futures for Kids focuses on four key components: early intervention programs for children ages birth to ten; family and community involvement programs; school success and safe neighborhoods.