EFFECTIVE AS OF OCTOBER 18, 2024

IMPORTANT –

THIS IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU (referenced herein as "you" or "user" or with "your") AND THE MARYLAND ESSENTIALS FOR CHILDHOOD (referenced herein as “Maryland Essentials”) THAT APPLIES EACH TIME YOU USE OR ACCESS THE MARYLAND ESSENTIALS WEBSITE AT marylandefc.org AND ANY OTHER ONLINE PROPERTIES CONTROLLED OR OPERATED BY US FROM TIME TO TIME (referenced collectively herein as the "Site"). YOU SHOULD THEREFORE READ CAREFULLY THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS CONTAINED IN THIS TERMS OF USE AGREEMENT ("TOU") AS THEY GOVERN YOUR USE OF THE SITE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THIS TOU, YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO USE OR OTHERWISE ACCESS THE SITE.

  1. CONTENTS. The Site is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice, legal services, or for police enforcement.
  2. LICENSE GRANT. The Site is owned by and made available by Maryland Essentials, and this TOU provides to you a personal, revocable, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and non-sublicensable license to use the Site conditioned on your continued compliance with this TOU. You may print and download materials and information from the Site solely for your personal use and only for educational purposes, provided that all hard copies contain all copyright and other applicable notices contained in such materials and information and that you do not further distribute or disclose such materials and information. You may not access or use the Site or any materials through the Site for any unauthorized purposes, which include but are not limited to, commercial purposes.
  3. LICENSE GRANT RESTRICTIONS. This TOU is only a license and not an assignment or sale. Maryland Essentials transfers no ownership or intellectual property interest or title in and to the Site to you or anyone else. Further, Maryland Essentials reserves all rights not expressly granted by this TOU. Accordingly, you may not modify, translate, decompile, create derivative work(s) of, copy, distribute, disassemble, broadcast, transmit, publish, remove, or alter any proprietary notices or labels, license, sublicense, transfer, sell, mirror, frame, exploit, rent, lease, private label, grant a security interest in, or otherwise use the Site in any manner not expressly permitted herein. Moreover, you must not modify copies of any materials from the Site or any images and graphics separately from the accompanying text or delete or alter any copyright, trademark, or proprietary rights notices from copies of any materials.
  4. USER OBLIGATIONS. By accessing or using the Site, you represent and warrant that you are at least eighteen (18) years of age (or the legal age of majority, whichever is greater) and will, at all times, provide true, accurate, current, and complete information when submitting information or materials on or through the Site, including, without limitation, when you provide information via a Site submission form. In addition, you agree to abide by all applicable local, state, national, and international laws and regulations with respect to your use of the Site. You also acknowledge and agree that use of the Internet is solely at your own risk.
  5. ACCOUNT. Registration for an account for use of account-restricted areas or tools of the Site may require access credentials, such as an email address, username, phone number, or password, or adherence to other particular access requirements as designated by Maryland Essentials in its sole discretion from time to time. You hereby agree to consider and maintain your access credentials as confidential information and agree that your account is personal to you and you will not provide the account information to any other individual. You shall immediately notify Maryland Essentials if you suspect or become aware of any loss or theft of or unauthorized use of your access credentials. Maryland Essentials has the right, in its sole discretion, to disable any username, password, or other identifier if in Maryland Essentials’ opinion you have violated any provision of this TOU or for any reason or for no reason.
  6. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS. The Site is owned by Maryland Essentials for Childhood Copyright 2024 © Maryland Essentials and/or its licensors. All rights reserved. Any downloadable or printable information or materials available through the Site, unless otherwise indicated, are owned by Maryland Essentials and/or its licensors. MARYLAND ESSENTIALS and all other names, logos, and icons identifying Maryland Essentials and its services are proprietary trademarks of Maryland Essentials, and any use of such marks without the express written permission of Maryland Essentials is strictly prohibited.
  7. OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Additional notices, terms, and conditions may apply to access to exclusive resources, third-party services, SMS (short message service), phone communications, payment, or other services offered on the Site. You agree to abide by such other notices, terms, and conditions, as applicable. If there is a conflict between this TOU and these additional notices, terms, and conditions, Maryland Essentials shall resolve any conflict in good faith in its sole discretion, but the latter terms shall generally control with respect to their respective subject matter.
  8. FEEDBACK. Maryland Essentials welcomes your feedback and suggestions about Maryland Essentials’s services, or with respect to how to improve the Site. By transmitting any suggestions, information, material, or other content (collectively, “Feedback”) to Maryland Essentials, you represent and warrant that you own all rights to such Feedback, and the Feedback does not infringe or violate the rights of any third party. In addition, the submission of Feedback will grant to Maryland Essentials an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free license for Maryland Essentials to use such Feedback in any manner, and for any purpose, and in any medium, in furtherance of Maryland Essentials’s mission.
  9. PRIVACY POLICY. Please see Maryland Essentials’ Privacy Policy for a summary of its personal information collection and use practices. See Here
  10. LINKS TO OTHER SITES AND THIRD-PARTY MATERIALS. The Site may include links to other third-party websites or provide access to a third-party page(s) on a social media platform(s). Such other sites or pages, including social media platforms, are maintained by third parties over which Maryland Essentials exercises no control. These links do not imply an endorsement with respect to any third party or the information, products, or services provided by any third party unless Maryland Essentials expressly states otherwise.
  11. DISCLAIMER. THE SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS-IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS AND MAY INCLUDE ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR OTHER INACCURACIES. MARYLAND ESSENTIALS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.
  12. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, YOU EXPRESSLY ABSOLVE AND RELEASE MARYLAND ESSENTIALS FROM ANY CLAIM OF HARM RESULTING FROM A CAUSE BEYOND MARYLAND ESSENTIALS’S CONTROL. MOREOVER, IN NO EVENT SHALL MARYLAND ESSENTIALS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OF THE SITE OR WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE, EVEN IF MARYLAND ESSENTIALS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING THE FOREGOING, TOTAL LIABILITY OF MARYLAND ESSENTIALS FOR BREACH OF THIS TOU IS CESSATION OF USE OF THE SITE AND FOR ANY OTHER REASON RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE WHATSOEVER FOR AN AMOUNT NOT EXCEEDING ONE HUNDRED ($100) DOLLARS.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE DISCLAIMER, EXCLUSION, OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS, LIABILITIES, AND DAMAGES AND, ACCORDINGLY, SOME OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS, MARYLAND ESSENTIALS’S LIABILITY WILL BE LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

  1. ENFORCING SECURITY. You may not use the Site or any of Maryland Essentials’ data, systems, network, or services to engage in, foster, or promote illegal, abusive, or irresponsible behavior including, without limitation, accessing or using Maryland Essentials’ data, systems, or networks in an unauthorized manner, attempting to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of Maryland Essentials’ system or network, circumventing any security or authentication measures, monitoring any data or traffic, interfering with any services, collecting or using from the Site email addresses or other identifiers, collecting or using from the Site information without the consent of Maryland Essentials (herein or otherwise), using any false, misleading, or deceptive TCP-IP packet header information, using the Site to distribute software or tools that gather information, distributing advertisements, or engaging in conduct that is likely to result in retaliation against Maryland Essentials or its data, systems, or network. Actual or attempted unauthorized use of the Site may result in criminal and/or civil prosecution, including, without limitation, punishment under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 under U.S. federal law. Maryland Essentials reserves the right to view, monitor, and/or record activity on the Site in order to maintain security of the Site. Such recorded activity is subject to review by law enforcement organizations. Maryland Essentials will also comply with all court orders or subpoenas involving requests for information. Maryland Essentials reserves the right at any time to suspend or terminate operation of or access to the Site or any portion of the Site.
  2. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. You agree that Maryland Essentials shall be entitled, in addition to other available remedies, to seek and be awarded an injunction or other appropriate equitable relief from a court of competent jurisdiction restraining any breach, threatened or actual, of your obligations under any provision of this TOU. Accordingly, you hereby waive any requirement that Maryland Essentials post any bond or other security in the event any injunctive or equitable relief is sought by or awarded to Maryland Essentials to enforce any provision of this TOU.
  3. TERM AND TERMINATION. This TOU will take effect (or re-take effect) at the moment you acknowledge (e.g., check a box) that you have read, understand, and agree to abide by the terms and conditions of the Site, register for an account on the Site, respond through the Site to a request for information, and/or begin downloading, accessing, or using the Site, whichever action or event is earliest. Maryland Essentials reserves the right at any time and on reasonable grounds to deny your access to the Site or to any portion thereof, and this TOU will also terminate automatically if you fail to comply with its terms and conditions, subject to the survival rights of certain provisions identified below. Termination will be effective without prior notice. You may also terminate this TOU at any time by ceasing to use the Site, but all applicable provisions of this TOU will survive termination, as identified below, and each re-access or use of the Site will reapply this TOU (then in effect) to you. Upon termination, you must destroy all copies of any aspect of the Site in your possession. The provisions concerning Maryland Essentials’s proprietary rights, Feedback, disclaimers (of warranty), limitations of liability, waiver and severability, entire agreement, injunctive relief, and governing law will survive the termination of this TOU for any reason.
  4. GOVERNING LAW. The Site is controlled and operated by Maryland Essentials from its offices within the United States. This TOU has been made in and will be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Maryland as applied to agreements entered into and completely performed in the State of Maryland. Any action to enforce this TOU will be brought in the courts presiding in the State of Maryland, and all parties to this TOU expressly agree to be subject to the jurisdiction of such courts. Access to the Site may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If you access the Site from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws. A printed version of this TOU and of any related notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings.
  5. WAIVER & SEVERABILITY. Failure to insist on strict performance of any of the terms and conditions of this TOU will not operate as a waiver of any subsequent default or failure of performance. No waiver by Maryland Essentials of any right under this TOU will be deemed to be either a waiver of any other right or provision or a waiver of that same right or provision at any other time. If any part of this TOU is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers, venue, claim, and liability limitations set forth above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most clearly matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of this TOU shall continue in effect.
  6. ENTIRE AGREEMENT. No joint venture, partnership, employment, affiliate, or agency relationship exists between you and Maryland Essentials as a result of this TOU or your utilization of the Site. This TOU represents the entire agreement between you and Maryland Essentials with respect to use of the Site and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral, or written between you and Maryland Essentials with respect to the Site. You may not assign, delegate, or transfer any rights under this TOU without the prior written consent of Maryland Essentials. Please note that Maryland Essentials reserves the right to change the terms and conditions of this TOU by posting a revised TOU and a corresponding announcement of the revised TOU, or by mailing and/or e-mailing notice thereof to you. In addition, Maryland Essentials may add, modify, or delete any aspect, program, or feature of the Site, but Maryland Essentials is not under any obligation to add any upgrade, enhancement, or modification. Your continued use of the Site following any announced change will be conclusively deemed acceptance of any change to the terms and conditions of this TOU. Accordingly, you are expected to check for announcements and review this TOU on a periodic basis.
  7. CONTACT. If you have questions regarding the Site or if you are interested in obtaining more information concerning Maryland Essentials, please contact info@marylandefc.org (e-mail).