A baby plays with a puzzle from his Bundle Box, a Heart of Maine United Way early childhood pilot project, made possible by MaineCF grant funding. The Bundle Box Program distributes free care boxes to every family with a new baby in the Maine Highlands region and provides resources to families with young children. Heart of Maine United Way photo
There was a glimmer of hope for the future and a sign of solidarity among Maine lawmakers earlier this year when all but one state senator voted to pass a bill to help resolve the child care crisis. The bill would both increase pay to child care workers, and reduce the financial burden for families paying child care tuition. The bill was successfully rolled into the state's annual budget and starting this year, the state will supplement the pay of child care workers, who will earn up to an additional $400 per month. The plan will also expand Maine's Child Care Subsidy Program so that more low income families can afford child care and enter the workforce, and their children can get a strong start in life.
The Right from the Start Coalition, a group of organizations working to ensure all Maine children have equal opportunity for healthy development and future success, helped get the bipartisan bill across the finish line. The coalition advocates for early access to quality child care, support and services for families, advancement for child care workers and funding. In addition to supporting the recent law, in 2021, the coalition successfully advocated for a law that would expand access to affordable child care by creating as many as five new Early Head Start programs throughout the state.
MaineCF has recognized that this kind of policy change is important to ensuring that all Maine children and families thrive. Support for awareness-building and advocacy was part of the strategy the foundation adopted in 2016 to meet its goal of ensuring that all Maine children receive a healthy start and arrive at kindergarten developmentally prepared to succeed in school and life.
Rayitos de/ Sol, a child care program of Mano en Mano in Milbridge, opened during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as a response to community need. Katherine Emery photo
Significant progress has been made, but more work lies ahead to put all Maine children on a path to success. "The child care system is broken," said Kim Russell, Maine state director of Council for a Strong America and co-chair of the Right from the Start Coalition. "The pandemic put a spotlight on that for policymakers."
The lack of quality child care impacts early childhood education workers, families and, in turn, the economy. A ReadyNation report found that Maine has a shortage of more than 1,000 child care workers. This is attributed in part to the line of work's low pay.
Without child care workers, parents can't find child care and therefore can't participate in the workforce. According to the report, the child care crisis cost Maine an
estimated $403 million.
The magnitude of the child care crisis requires a cross-sector commitment and a multifaceted approach. Russell says there is no one "silver bullet" to resolve the child care issue or to ensure all Maine children are ready for kindergarten. It will take mental health support, services for families and opportunities for child care workers. It will
require state and private sector resources to ensure quality care. "We are going in the right direction," said Russell. "We're not done yet."
