Early Care and Learning

Early Care and Learning

Maine Equal Justice works to ensure all Maine families can access quality, affordable childcare, regardless of their income.

In order for parents and children to succeed, families need quality, affordable childcare and early learning opportunities. Seventy three percent (73%) of Maine children under age six live in households where both parents work. But for parents with young kids, being able to afford childcare often affects their ability to get and keep a job.

Many Maine parents face significant barriers to accessing affordable, quality care for their children. The implications are important for children, families, and our economy. For a single parent in Maine with one child, the cost of care can absorb more than a third of their income.

Having affordable, quality childcare improves a family’s wellbeing and reduces their need for public assistance. There is a large body of economic research that shows this clear relationship between parents’ employment and the availability of childcare assistance.

Flavia Oliveira, a member of the Equal Justice Partners' Circle and an Educare Parent Ambassador alumni, testifies in support of LIFT before the Health and Human Services Committee.

Educational Programs

Child Care Subsidy Program

The Child Care Subsidy Program makes childcare more affordable for low income families who meet the income guidelines. However, following numerous program changes, including a cut to the provider payment rate in 2011, Maine has seen a significant decline in the number of providers able to participate in the program. U.S. Office of Child Care data show the number of participating providers has dropped from 2,480 in 2006 to 1,089 in 2016. It also shows a significant decline in the number of Maine children served by the program with numbers dropping from 5,400 in 2006 to 3,800 in 2017. While funding for this program has to some degree been restored, it has not been expanded nearly enough to meet the demand.

Head Start

Early childcare should provide high-quality early learning experiences which are critical during the time when a child’s brain is developing. This can help set a child on a path to success in school, leading toward higher education and a career. Low income children and English language learners get the biggest boost from high quality childcare.

Recognizing the importance of early care and education, many in Maine have embraced Head Start as a proven solution. Head Start is a federal program supplemented with limited state dollars, which promotes school readiness for children in low-income families by providing comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services. Head Start helps children succeed later in life with higher college enrollment, better health status, and employment. It also has the potential to narrow the racial and ethnic gaps in school readiness caused by systemic racism.

Many Head Start programs also offer Early head Start, which provides early care and education for infants and toddlers up to age three, and pregnant women and their families who have incomes below the federal poverty level.

Educare

Educare, a nationally recognized early care and education model with a site in Central Maine, builds on the success of Head Start model. Evaluations of the program show that when children leave Educare for elementary school, the majority are academically, socially, and emotionally prepared for kindergarten.

Through Early Head Start and Head Start partnerships, Educare Central Maine offers full-day, full-year early care and education services to children from 6 weeks to 5 years. The Educare model uses a “whole family approach,” combining intensive family engagement and advocacy with professional development and high-quality teaching practices.

Home Visiting programs

Early Head Start, as well as other programs like Maine Families and Public Health Nursing, offer home visiting programs that provide expectant parents and parents of young children with education and support in their home. Home visits can focus on a range of services, such as linking pregnant women with prenatal care, coaching parents on learning activities that foster their child’s development, and supporting parents’ role as their child’s first and most important teacher. Home visitors may also conduct regular screenings to help parents identify possible health and developmental issues and help stem Maine’s disturbingly high rate of infant mortality.

Helpful resources and links

Relevant studies and articles:

For more information, visit our partners’ websites:

  • “I grew up in a small town in Maine, and like many of the kids around me, our families were more focused on getting enough to eat and buying oil than on encouraging us children to get an education. Even without my degree in hand, education has transformed my life; I’ve gained purpose, direction, confidence, and hope. As I interact with my community, especially young parents, I see so much untapped potential. Offering easier access to education and improving these life-changing programs is essential to the growth of Maine. I see strong women and men making major changes in their lives, graduating and breaking the cycle of poverty.”

    —Allina Diaz, Warren, testifying before the legislature in 2019

  • “I put in a lot of hard work to get to where I am, but I’m also fortunate because Maine helped sustain me and my three kids with food, housing, heating, and childcare assistance while I was in school. Maine invested in me and as a result, my oldest child is applying to college. I am determined that she won’t experience poverty like I did. The cycle of poverty ends with me.”

    Robyn Stanicki, Clinical Researcher, Winterport

    Maine Equal Justice focuses its work on many of the issues that affect people’s daily lives – access to adequate health care, housing, transportation and childcare; food and income security; and higher education and training. Maine Equal Justice is a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization. Our EIN is 04-3346273. 
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