Months after finding close-to-perfect child care for her daughter with special needs, Jessalyn Schwartz is about to lose it again.

Her 3-year-old, who has severe mobility delays and uses a walker,“ has grown exponentially in the last four months, and it’s because every teacher knows who [she] is,” said Schwartz. Her child attends Sunny Days, an early-learning program in Riverdale. In August, it’s expected to be effectively shut down by the federal government.

Sunny Days operates inside a building overseen by the U.S. General Services Administration, or GSA, the federal government’s real estate arm. Late last year, the agency informed the center’s operator that its building had been slated for “disposal,” meaning sale or closure, in about 18 months.

More disruptions could also be coming for Maryland’s other nine child care centers operating inside federal buildings. The government office that oversaw more than 80 day cares across the country closed in March. That office had paid for the centers to get accredited and subsidized some larger costs, like furniture and rent. Those measures helped keep tuition costs low for families of enrolled kids, at least half of whom must be dependent on a federal employee, saving families thousands a year.

Now, as the Trump administration makes sweeping cuts to government offices, the centers face an uncertain future. Some said they didn’t know how costs would be handled without the child care office.

A spokesperson for U.S. General Services said in an email that the agency would no longer require or pay for child care providers to maintain accreditation with the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

“GSA is committed to complying with all Executive Orders and maximizing value for the American taxpayer by focusing on programs that are required by statute or policy,” the spokesperson said. “Quality child care programs continue to be important and child care providers are expected to deliver high-quality early care and education programs consistent with all applicable laws and statutes, state quality rating standards, best-practices, and industry standards.”

The spokesperson added that the agency has made other, unspecified changes to its child care license agreements and that a program “manager” oversees the providers’ compliance. The agency did not respond to specific questions about the child care office.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children said in a statement that the discontinuation of accreditation funding comes after “a long history of working together” and that without the investments, cost will shift to individual programs and families. The association is among the outside groups approved to evaluate the quality of child care in Maryland.

“While we know these programs will continue to try their best, the reality is that child care programs already operate on razor-thin margins and consequences may include decreased quality and access as well as increased challenges for educators trying to do an important and difficult job with less support,” the statement read.

Novlette Ferguson, director of Sunny Days, said she fears that General Services also would no longer pay for things like teacher conferences and that “all our funding, basically, is out the door.”

Centers could also start losing families, and revenue as the Trump administration lays off thousands of employees. The economy is especially fragile in Prince George’s County, where Sunny Days is located and where 14.08% of workers are federally employed.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there are people evaluating their child care needs by the end of the summer,” said Peter Cromwell, CEO of the company that operates Sunny Days, Georgetown Hill Early School.

The Learning Care Group operates two Baltimore centers inside federal buildings. Its chief business development officer, Sean Sondreal, said in an email that there have been no indications of impending closures and that they will continue focusing on providing high-quality child care.

Cromwell predicts a return to stability for child care providers if they can get through the next few months. Georgetown Hill will start paying for its centers’ accreditations and renewals. And while it’s possible bigger-ticket items that usually get done at centers over the summer, like facility upgrades and painting, will no longer happen under federal restructuring, Cromwell hasn’t been told that. And if it doesn’t, the nonprofit will “self-help,” Cromwell added.

“We figured out 9/11 and anthrax and 2008 and Covid,” Cromwell said. “Georgetown Hill is going to do everything we can to keep these schools going. And nobody is telling me that we’re in danger.”

Sunny Days families and teachers will have the chance to move to another Georgetown Hill facility called Greenwood. Some families feel like it’s their only option even though enrollment at Greenwood could grow up to 135 kids, over double the size of Sunny Days. Prince George’s County,considered a child care desert, is home to four of the 10 Maryland child care centers under the General Services Administration.

Erin Hogeboom moved her 3-year-old son, Juneau, from Greenwood to Sunny Days last August. While it’s a farther commute, it’s safer for Hogeboom, who picks up her son on foot or by bike when her wife takes the family’s sole car to work. She loves her school’s reading nooks, sunny rooms and massive playground.

“This space just has this air that it feels like it’s been made for children,” Hogeboom said. “I remember our first kind of consultation with the teachers that he would be with in the 3s classroom and just feeling super confident that we’d be leaving him in really good hands.”

Schwartz said that because Sunny Days is just one floor, her daughter can access the playground instead of sitting in a stroller while other kids around her play. One day, she crawled up her classroom’s loft-style furniture into the library space because she wanted to be with her friends and the books, something Schwartz said she wouldn’t have attempted before.

And Schwartz has found community with other Sunny Days parents, who have reached out to make sure she and her daughter feel supported through the coming transition. Schwartz is likely to move to Greenwood, where her daughter will at least know some of the kids and won’t have to answer as many questions about her disability. But she doesn’t think it’s the best decision for herself or other families.

“We should have options,” Schwartz said. “It’ll be fine. It won’t be good. It won’t be beneficial. It’ll be fine.”

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.