Over the past three years, providers in Prince George’s County reported the state was not meeting deadlines for POC payments — some providers had gone without pay from the state for two months.

So when the child care contract went into effect, providers used it to file a grievance. Out of that grievance, MSDE, the Department of Human Resources and the Department of Social Services in Prince
George’s County began to fix the problem:

1. They hired additional staff and reassigned others at the PG County DSS office to help clear up the backlog of POC vouchers.

2. MSDE now requires monthly reports from the PG County DSS office to monitor the system.

3. Most importantly, the state has committed to work with SEIU Local 500 to contact banks, utility companies, and other creditors about delaying action if a provider runs into trouble paying bills
because of late POC payments.

“I’ve been helping organize my fellow providers in Prince George’s County for years now, and I can say late payments were a continual problem. Some providers hadn’t been paid in months and had no idea who to turn to. Some even got behind on their mortgages because of late payments or left the profession entirely.

“The system was broken and, try as we may, we couldn’t fix it until we formed a union and built a formal relationship with the state. Now when we have a problem, we’ve got each other and the union and the structure of a contract to help us work through it. We don’t have to struggle alone.”

Madie Green
District Heights, MD