Thank you, Gov. Janet Mills, for signing into law important child care legislation earlier this month. And thank you, Senate President Troy Jackson, for sponsoring and championing this new law, which will help make high-quality child care more accessible and affordable for many Maine families. Maine’s business community strongly supported the bill, and appreciates this paper’s July 8 editorial also voicing support.

The new law will create up to five new high-quality early child care programs across Maine that help support families, kids, and communities committed to making sure our youngest learners get started toward a path to a successful future. The programs will replicate a successful Early Head Start Child Care Partnership program in Skowhegan created by Educare Central Maine, KVCAP and the local Skowhegan Public School System. The positive outcomes of these programs will benefit not only the kids who participate, but also their families, their future employers, the communities in which they live, and Maine’s economy.

These programs also help parents who want to work, but cannot, due to a lack of accessible, high quality and affordable early child care. Considering Maine’s workforce shortage, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, and our state’s need to significantly grow its workforce, access to child care is an increasing priority for Maine employers.

That’s why those of us invested in early childhood want to thank our state’s leaders for recognizing that expanding high-quality child care programs is an imperative. This new law is the most significant early care and education advancement in our state since Educare Central Maine was constituted more than 10 years ago.  Maine businesses welcome further efforts that increase access to high-quality child care. They are a powerful investment in Maine’s future.

 

Jim Clair         

CEO, CSSHealth

chairman, Educare Central Maine board of directors

and member, ReadyNation