The big changes coming to Maine’s child care system, explained
AUGUSTA, Maine — A handful of changes meant to improve Maine’s child care system will begin taking effect this fall.
The two-year, $10.3 billion budget Gov. Janet Mills signed into law in July includes about $59 million to implement a child care overhaul led by Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash. The new set of policies is aimed at supporting families and providers while building new capacity in a system that had 85 percent of providers seeing staff shortages in 2021.
So what is changing in Maine’s child care industry, and how will it benefit parents, workers and kids? Here’s what you need to know.
More families are eligible for child care subsidies.
One key part of Jackson’s proposal that made it into the final budget is expanding eligibility for child care subsidies to families making 125 percent of the state’s median income.
The current limit to qualify for assistance is 85 percent of Maine’s median income, equaling just over $84,000 for a family of four. The 125 percent threshold for the state’s current median income would raise that to $123,000.
The expanded eligibility provision will take effect Jan. 1, 2024. Advocacy groups estimated more than 2,300 children will benefit from additional families having access to the subsidies.
To qualify for the Child Care Subsidy Program, parents or legal guardians also must be currently employed, enrolled in school or a job training program, or retired. The subsidy amount can change over time and vary from county to county, and the state requires parents to pay a portion of child care costs based on a sliding fee scale.
An employee of a licensed child care center or family provider will also be able to receive the subsidy if they meet eligibility guidelines.
Augusta is one city that will benefit from the changes, as it currently offers a child care program serving kids before and after school, along with during vacations and summer break. The city’s child care director, Bethany Sproul-LeBrun, said close to 70 percent of families in the program receive various subsidies, but more are on the edge of qualifying.
To apply for the stipend and learn more about the program, parents can visit the Office of Child and Family Services’ website, visit a local Maine Department of Health and Human Services office or call 207-624-7999.
Child care workers will get a big monthly pay bump.
The other big change is a doubling of the average monthly wage stipend for child care center employees from $200 to $400, which will take effect in October when the budget becomes law.
The stipend is a tiered system based on credentials and experience, so $400 is actually an average for the higher amount, noted Heather Marden, co-executive director of the Maine Association for the Education of Young Children.
Nearly 7,000 child care workers currently receive the $200 stipend on top of their hourly pay, according to the Maine Association for the Education of Young Children. The Maine Department of Labor estimates the average hourly wage for a child care worker is $15.42 per hour or $32,000 a year.
For her mostly part-time staff in Augusta, Sproul-LeBrun called the boosted stipend a “huge, huge draw” that can make child care jobs more competitive.
What other changes to Maine’s child care system are in store?
A number of other child care-related provisions in the budget relate to data collection and reporting.
For example, DHHS must evaluate the higher child care subsidies. Starting in 2024, it will submit an annual report with recommendations on how to increase enrollment and reduce barriers to families receiving the subsidies to the Legislature’s health committee.
The package also requires federal Head Start providers in Maine to serve children up to age 5 who are at risk and below 185 percent of the federal poverty level, rather than children of all ages who are below that benchmark.
The changes come after years of struggles in the system.
Advocates said these changes to the system are sorely needed in Maine, especially after the state saw its number of home-based child care centers decline by more than a quarter during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020 and 2021, the national Kids Count Data Book found 15 percent of children up to age 5 in Maine lived in families with a member who had to quit, change or refuse a job because of problems with child care, the ninth-highest rate in the country.
Along with pegging the average price for infant care at nearly $12,000 a year, Child Care Aware also found a married couple with a single child spends 11 percent of family income on child care, while a single parent spends 35 percent of their income.