UMD Finance Researchers to Lead Statewide Feasibility Study on Supporting Caregivers

The University of Maryland will play a central role in a state initiative to evaluate how Maryland can better support the more than 1 million residents who provide unpaid care to adults with Alzheimer’s and related disorders and individuals with disabilities.

Gov. Wes Moore this week signed legislation (photo below) directing a Robert H. Smith School of Business team in partnership with the Maryland Department of Human Services to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for a proposed program to Supporting Our Caregiver Infrastructure Program.

Leading the study will be Associate Professor of Finance Liu Yang, founding executive director of UMD’s Federal Statistical Research Data Center. She will work closely with Vojislav Maksimovic, Smith’s William E. Mayer Chair in Finance. Graduate students in the Master of Finance and Master of Quantitative Finance programs will contribute analytical support. 

The legislation tasks the Smith School with assessing the costs and economic impact of establishing a statewide framework to provide monthly stipends to unpaid family caregivers. The study will examine how such a program could strengthen Maryland’s labor force, reduce reliance on institutional care, and generate long-term savings through improved health and economic stability for caregiving families. A final report with findings and recommendations is due to the General Assembly by July 1, 2028.

Maksimovic said UMD’s involvement signifies “the importance of evidence-based policies and the Smith School’s expertise in rigorously applying appropriate evaluation techniques and data.”

Yang said the team will bring expertise in finance, policy modeling and data analytics to help state leaders evaluate the need for a caregiver infrastructure program and the practical implications of implementing it. 

“We hope our effort will help frame caregiving not only as a family responsibility, but also as an economic issue that affects labor-force participation, employer productivity and the state’s long-term growth,” she said. “More broadly, we hope the study gives state leaders a clear framework for understanding how investments in caregiving infrastructure can strengthen both families and the economy.”

Advocacy organizations including AARP Maryland and the Alzheimer’s Association have highlighted that Maryland caregivers provide billions of dollars in uncompensated support each year, often at significant personal and financial sacrifice. The Smith contribution will help shape a data-driven policy framework for strengthening families, supporting aging in place and advancing Maryland’s long-term economic resilience.

Yang and Maksimovic have also been coordinating with the Maryland comptroller to model how federal spending shifts affect Maryland’s economy. Graduate students analyzed publicly available data to estimate the economic consequences of recent and potential federal spending and employment reductions. Research Professor and Academic Director of the Center for Global Business Kislaya Prasad helped organize the collaboration, which also supports agency-specific projects for the Departments of Labor, Veterans and Military Families and the Maryland Aviation Commission.