Nicole Witherbee is president and CEO of the John T. Gorman Foundation.

One of the most impactful things we can do for our state’s future is to ensure that Maine children and the families who support them are thriving. Sadly, we have a ways to go.

Maine children face systemic challenges to their mental health, educational outcomes and overall well-being, as too many of their families face barriers to securing basic essentials and achieving their aspirations. During this current period of change and uncertainty, these conditions have only intensified.

While these issues may feel intractable, they are not insurmountable. Through our partners, the John T. Gorman Foundation has seen how promising solutions are making important progress in key areas. In a recent report, we detail innovative approaches and powerful partnerships that are making headway on some of the state’s most persistent problems — success that could be supported, replicated and further adopted to strengthen statewide systems for children and families.

Child care is one example. As the shortage and high costs of quality child care challenge communities across the state, parents struggle to access the child care they need to participate in the workforce, while children go without the early learning experiences they need to flourish.

Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI) has responded to this need with its Child Care Business Lab. The program helps aspiring providers overcome licensing barriers and launch sustainable enterprises through training, technical assistance and access to start-up capital. Operating in Lewiston and rural communities, it has helped launch 56 new businesses, creating more than 1,200 new child care openings and 215 jobs. As a result, over 400 parents have been able to gain or improve their employment and stabilize their finances.

Another promising strategy has emerged in efforts to address housing insecurity, which has risen dramatically for families across Maine. Several school districts are now leveraging their connections with children, families and community providers to find housing for students and their families who have become homeless or help prevent it.

One such district, Sanford Schools, has responded to a 400% increase in student homelessness since the pandemic with preventive and targeted strategies. Leveraging state funds and working with local partners, including York County Community Action Corporation, the district is identifying families with needs early on, building trusted relationships, and connecting them with resources to remain housed and keep students engaged in learning.

This work begins even before a student enters kindergarten. School registration now includes a family needs assessment, creating early opportunities for intervention. By shifting to a more proactive approach, the schools have achieved meaningful results. During the last school year, the district prevented homelessness for 55 students and helped 16 students and their families secure stable housing.

A group of York County school districts working with York County Community Action Corporation has seen similar results. Schools are building community partnerships to improve other student outcomes as well. Over the last year and a half, Lewiston Public Schools has partnered with local youth development organization Tree Street Youth Center to build a coordinated suite of programs that support students both in and out of school.

During the last school year, 700 students interacted with the programs with strong results, including calmer school environments, reductions in behavioral incidents and successful returns to learning after suspension or expulsion.

While these examples are having a direct impact on the children and families they serve, the principles behind their success — such as the importance of prevention and early intervention, using targeted supports to remove barriers to success and building community partnerships that coordinate resources and services across organizations — are significant more broadly.

These programs offer encouraging proof that even in a time of uncertainty, progress is not only possible — in many ways, it’s already underway. But maintaining and building on it will take sustained investment, bold policy and the collective will to meet this moment for Maine’s children.