Maryland Family Network is an early childhood advocacy organization that provides support to young families and to child care providers.
A major part of Maryland Family Network’s outreach to young families is its 24 Family Support Centers. These centers provide free services primarily for families with children birth to age 3. The centers offer parent education, peer support, service coordination, and connections to community resources. Montgomery County’s Family Support Center is called the Family Discovery Center, located at 1010 Grandin Avenue in Rockville.
Maryland Family Network also helps families find quality child care and after-school activities through searchable databases on its website. The site also provides helpful information on choosing the right child care program.
Maryland Family Network also works to prevent child abuse and neglect through its Strengthening Families Maryland initiative. This program aims to teach parents about the five protective factors that research shows help make sure that children grow up happy, healthy, and safe: parental resilience, social connections, concrete support in times of need, knowledge of parenting and child development, and social and emotional competence of children. MFN holds Parent Cafés designed to support and educate parents in the five protective factors so that parents can develop strong relationships with their children.
Maryland Family Network also produces a weekly radio program called “The First Five Years.” The program has covered topics ranging from reading to infants and teaching persistence to why people get the urge to take a little “bite” out of a super-cute baby. The show airs on WYPR 88.1 FM in Baltimore but is also available on both WYPR’s and MFN’s websites.
Maryland Family Network also acts as an advocate for young families with the state government, pushing legislators in Annapolis to consider issues such as Universal Pre-Kindergarten, early childhood mental health initiatives, and child care subsidies for parents.