Burtonsville is a small town of less than 10,000 residents in Montgomery County, MD. There are 24 licensed child care programs in Burtonsville, including 19 home daycares and 5 child care centers. The average weekly tuition fee is $275 for full-time infant care and $225 for a 4-year old preschooler. To find out the average cost of child care in your zip code, click here to use our
daycare cost calculator.
The majority of the Burtonsville population works in Healthcare, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, as well as in Public Administration. Excellent employment opportunities surround the residents of Burtonsville primarily due to its location between Baltimore and Washington, DC. These factors contribute to a median household income of $104,800, almost 40% higher than the average in Maryland, and twice as much as the nation's average. Families in a busy town like Burtonsville have a high need for quality child care.
Licensed daycare facilities satisfy minimum legal requirements regarding location, staff credentials, emergency plans, meals and activities. Owners and staff are required to attend pre-service training and continued training by law, including 90 clock hour courses for teachers or directors, Basic First Aid, CPR, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (if caring for younger than two years old), and Medication Administration Training (MAT). There is a total of 24 licensed child care and preschool programs in Burtonsville, which consist of 19 family child care homes and 5 center-based facilities (daycare centers or preschools). Three language immersion or bilingual daycares provide a platform for students to understand and connect with other cultures and languages in Burtonsville. Children with food allergies have access to 4 peanut-free child care facilities where they are taken care of by caregivers with specialized training in health and nutrition.
The first 5 years are the most crucial years and creating a positive learning environment has long term impact in success in academics and the child's interaction with the society in general. The Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) contains all standard regulations in the Maryland State Department of Education – Office of Child Care (OCC). Other than caregivers who are relatives or friends of child's parent or legal guardian providing occasional babysitting less than 20 hours a month, child care providers in Maryland caring for compensation are required to register by law.
There are 13 Regional OCCs across the state that provides training, guidance and issue license to run a child care facility. COMAR defines the detailed requirement for each facility and the classification is based on the age and number of children and the size of the facility. A Family Child Care Home is for a maximum of 8 children. A Large Family Child Care Home is a facility for 9 to a maximum of 12 children. Both home facilities are in the provider's residence and resident children ages 5 and below are counted in the maximum number of children allowed in a daycare's licensed capacity. An individual, an agency or an organization can operate a child care center and can offer different types of programs and services such as infant care, early care and education for toddlers, caring for a single age group or mixed-age groups, etc. Child care centers are facilities run at a place other than the provider's residence and must comply with the maximum number of children based on the size of the facility and need to maintain the required staff-child ratio.
The OCC examines Federal and State criminal background check and record of abuse and neglect of children and adults for all residents 18 years old and above, providers' substitute, paid employees 14 years or older and any other individual authorized in the premises while in approved hours of operation. Parents can file complaints should any of the standards are violated. The OCC investigates and continuously conducts monitoring and unannounced inspection at least once a year to follow-up.