Finding Child Care

We offer a host of helpful tools for families in need of child care, including access to the LOCATE: Child Care resource and referral service, free premium membership to Care.com, backup care, and preferential admission relationships with our child care center partners.

Licensed Child Care in Maryland

Our LOCATE: Child Care partnership allows you to receive individual counseling to assess your child care needs and then be matched with available services in Maryland.

Once you’re registered, you’ll be matched with available services, and receive referrals to registered family child care providers and licensed group programs, as well as follow-up assistance until placement is found. LOCATE also provides materials on specialized child care options and services, federal income tax credits for families, and Maryland state financial assistance programs.

Services Offered

LOCATE’s database includes all Maryland-registered family child care providers and licensed group programs, such as full-day centers, preschool and Head Start programs, public pre-K programs, private kindergartens, school-age programs, summer programs and camps. Read more on the LOCATE website, or follow the steps below to register and request service.

Enhanced information and referral services include:

  • Direct access to information about all registered and licensed child care programs throughout Maryland
  • Confidential, individual counseling and assessment of child care needs to match those needs with available services
  • Referrals to child care providers with immediate vacancies or potential future openings
  • Service for families whose children have cognitive, motor, medical, or social challenges, including behavior
  • Information on choosing the best child care for your situation
  • Materials on specialized child care options and services (nanny and au pair agencies, transportation services, etc.), federal income tax credits for families, and financial assistance programs in Maryland
  • Follow-up assistance until placement is found or all resources are exhausted
  • Application assistance for the MDSE Child Care Scholarship. Effective 10/10/2023, the maximum annual income for families has increased, so you may qualify now, even if you haven’t in the past. Contact LOCATE to be connected with a Resource Specialist in your county, who will guide you through the application process.

LOCATE Flyer

How do I register?

Complete and submit the LOCATE: Child Care Registration Form. LOCATE Corporate Enhanced Referral Service will contact you as soon as possible. You may also contact LOCATE at 1-800-999-0120, or LOCATEcorporate@marylandfamilynetwork.org.

 

JHU Partner Centers

JHU partners with three high-quality Baltimore-area child care centers that give admission and wait list priority to JHU faculty, staff, and students, and scholarships are available for eligible families to help pay for tuition. We also have relationships with other quality centers that offer wait list priority to Hopkins affiliates.

Learn more.

Care.Com Premium Membership

Considering hiring a caregiver to provide child care in your home? You can either identify and hire an in-home provider yourself or use a professional in-home placement agency.

Care.com Premium Membership from Care@Work

Care.com is an online family care platform that connects families with caregivers, including those who provide in-home care. Detailed profiles, references, and background checks are a few of the services Care.com provides to help you find and select the best care available. All full-time JHU faculty and staff get a free premium membership to Care.com’s online platform as part of their benefits package. Care.com also handles JHU’s requests for backup child care and eldercare.

You receive a free premium membership with unlimited access to the Care.com, which is the largest online community for care. (A savings of $145 a year.) With this membership, you can enjoy all the privileges that come with a premium membership:

  • Find help for regular and planned care needs for child care, adult and senior care, pet care, housekeeping, and tutoring
  • Search detailed profiles that include experience, availability, reviews and ratings
  • Post jobs detailing your family’s needs for child, senior, pet, home and more — all care in one place
  • Background check options available
  • 24/7 access via desktop, mobile web and Care.com App

Quick Tips:

  • How to post a job on Care.com or search for a caregiver in your zip code to care for children, adult loved ones, pets, tutors and more
  • How to access Care@Work’s safety center for best practices on hiring safely
  • Use the keyword “Hopkins” to identify Hopkins-friendly providers
  • Click the link below, create your account using your JHED ID, select the type of care you need, then “I want to search on my own,” to post a job or hire local caregiver.

Care.com

You have an obligation to the IRS and state tax agencies to report wages paid to certain in-home providers. Please review the resources below to understand your responsibilities.

Care@Work’s Nanny Tax Guide 

IRS Publication 926

Other In-Home Care

You have an obligation to the IRS and state tax agencies to report wages paid to certain in-home providers. Please review the resources below to understand your responsibilities.

Care@Work’s Nanny Tax Guide 

IRS Publication 926

The Nanny Network provides screened, vetted, and committed caregivers to families in the Baltimore, Washington, and Northern Virginia areas. Specialists work with families with full- or part-time, permanent, or temporary needs, including by fulfilling JHU employees’ backup child care and eldercare requests submitted through Care.com. Johns Hopkins University employees get a 20% discount on the retainer fee for a permanent nanny search, or receive a 20% discount on the temporary membership fee.

The Nanny Network

Au Pair in America provides intercultural live-in child care that’s a flexible and enriching experience for the entire family. Johns Hopkins faculty and staff receive a discount of up to $500 off program fees. It is free to apply, free to search for au pairs, and free to set up a consultation with a matching expert or local community counselor.

Au Pair in America Flyer

Au Pair in America Website

Cultural Care Au Pair provides live-in care with screened young adults coming from more than 20 countries around the world. JHU employees applying for the first time will have their $75 application fee waived. Eligible employees also receive $500 off the program fee when signing up to host an au pair for 30-plus weeks.

Cultural Care Au Pair Discounts

Centers Outside of Maryland

Johns Hopkins Employee Assistance Program (JHEAP) can help with a variety of issues, including finding child care or eldercare.

Contact JHEAP to receive resources for help finding a licensed caregiver in states outside of Maryland.

You can reach JHEAP 24/7, 365 days a year, by phone at 888-978-1262 or online. For online access, you will need to use the following company code: JHEAP

Choosing Quality Care

As a parent, you’re responsible for assessing and monitoring the quality of the child care you choose. As you search for child care, you’re no doubt giving considerable thought to safety. Before you make a decision, you’ll want to evaluate the quality of potential child care providers—and, once you’ve chosen a provider, monitor the quality of care over time. It’s important—and sometimes stressful—but we’ve got resources that can help.

Don’t forget to check our Child Care Center Partners, who are local to our Central Baltimore campuses and offer preferential admission and wait list priority to Johns Hopkins families. Read about our partners and preferred wait list centers.
You’ll also find savings with ABCmouse.com, KinderCare, and other family needs through the LifeMart employee discount program.