State Advocacy
LD 1726 - AN ACT TO BUILD MAINE'S ECONOMY BY SUPPORTING CHILD CARE AND WORKING FAMILIES
Sponsored by Maine’s Senate President, Troy Jackson, this bill aims to increase accessibility to child care for working families by increasing the subsidy eligibility threshold and by doubling the monthly wage stipend for child care workers.
LD 1799 - AN ACT TO EXPAND MAINE'S HIGH-QUALITY EARLY LEARNING AND CARE FOR CHILDREN BY INCREASING PUBLIC PRESCHOOL OPPORTUNITIES IN COMMUNITIES
Sponsored by Maine’s House Speaker, Eloise Vitelli, this bill aims to increase accessibility to child care for working families by implementing a mixed-delivery system for public pre-k that can be offered in existing childcare programs, including family childcare.
Please note the timeline graphic provided is ANTICIPATED and not set in stone. We recognize that barriers in rulemaking and implementation of new programs/initiatives can sometimes cause delays.
Upcoming Child Care Initiatives in Maine
Lots of things are on the horizon to help make improvements and provide support to Maine's early care and education systems. MaineAEYC is working hard to keep you up to date on upcoming changes.
Last year legislation was passed to improve the Child Care Affordability Program (CCAP), formerly known as the Child Care Subsidy Program (CCSP). These changes are due to go into effect with new rules that we anticipate seeing come out June 2024 with a public comment period before going into effect after the rulemaking process is complete.
Concurrently, other initiatives in last year's budget process and this year's supplemental budget process are also being rolled out in the near future including the CCAP Child Care Employment Award which is designed to provide child care tuition coverage for those working in licensed child care programs and new Child Care Stabilization grants to support child care operations and quality.
The federal government has also introduced new rules for states to abide by when providing child care subsidy support. These rules include, but are not limited to:
Lowering Families’ Costs for Child Care
Copayments will lowered to 7% of income vs. 10% currently
Encourages states to lower co-payment caps and minimize or waive co-payments when possible
Improves payment practices for child care providers
Use some grants and contracts for direct services towards care for children in underserved geographic areas, infants and toddlers, and children with disabilities
Pay providers prospectively and based on child enrollment instead of attendance
Allow and encouraged to pay child care providers the full established payment rate, even if it is higher than the amount providers are charging private pay families
Reduces program bureaucracy to make it easier for families to enroll in CCDF
Implement eligibility policies and procedures that minimize disruptions to parent employment, education, or training opportunities
Establish simplified parameters for presumptive eligibility to expedite access to child care for certain vulnerable populations, including families experiencing homelessness
Right from the Start Coalition
The Right from the Start Coalition is working to ensure that all Maine children have equal opportunity for healthy development. In short, that means providing early care and education that is accessible and of high quality, from birth to eight, and no matter where families live in our state.
Maine’s children need to be a priority – Right from the Start. If we want Maine’s future to be in good hands, we need to develop a strong bench – a generation of young people who can lead our communities and grow our economy.
Today, 69% of children under six have all available parents and caregivers in the workforce. We simply must ensure our public policy responds to the reality of life for Maine families, and reflects what decades of developmental science has shown children need for healthy development.
