EVENTS & NEWS

July 5, 2023 - Budgets are a reflection of our state values and priorities. The recent bipartisan budget agreement reflects what we know to be true: The Maine child care system needs new investments to better work for children, families, early educators and employers.

May 4, 2023 - The Maine Children’s Alliance recently released the 2023 KIDS COUNT Data Book on the well-being of Maine children and families. Feedback from across the state and political spectrum has been clear and consistent, and the data are sobering. Approximately 34,000 Maine children live in poverty. Child maltreatment is high. Maine youth are facing unprecedented mental health issues. Significant disparities persist across indicators when disaggregated by income, race and ethnicity, geography and other factors.

January 6, 2023 - The state’s child welfare system has been one of the top subjects of legislative debate since the tenure of former Gov. Paul LePage, just as it was ahead of major reforms in the early 2000s. It has usually been prompted by high-profile deaths that thrust the worst cases into public view. This is going to happen again in 2023.

September 22, 2022 - HALLOWELL, Maine (WABI) - It started with an opening forum where people from different communities spoke about the work that they do. The theme of the convention is community. According to the Maine Children’s Alliance, the focus is on policies, structures and systems to make sure children and families have the chance to get a good start in life.

August 30, 2022 - Throughout the pandemic, we've heard about a growing need for child care services across the state. According to the Maine Children's Alliance, the number of licensed family child care centers in Maine dropped by more than 10% in just the last two years. Last year, there were less than 800 licensed family child care centers in Maine.

August 16, 2022 - The Maine News Service recently covered the release of the national KIDS COUNT Data Book and Maine's state ranking of 12th. Children’s advocacy groups are sounding the alarm about the mental health challenges of Maine’s kids. The 2022 Kids Count Data Book, released last week, highlights how children are struggling with anxiety and depression at unprecedented levels, about one-in-nine nationally.

June 28, 2022 - The Mills Administration announced today that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has provided more than $100 million in Federal funding for child care during the pandemic, a milestone that represents more than three times the funding provided before COVID-19. As a result of these investments, child care providers have been able to maintain, and even build, capacity despite the pandemic – from 47,819 licensed slots in February 2020 to 48,940 licensed slots in June 2022.

May 18, 2022 - We all want children in our state to grow up in safe and supportive environments. Our Network stands with the families who have experienced the tragedy of a child’s death, and the immeasurable loss that represents for them and their communities. Their voices should be central in our discussions. One way we can honor their experiences now is by moving beyond debate to take collective action and implement recommended changes.

May 5, 2022 - To truly recognize April as Child Abuse Prevention Month, investing in abuse and neglect prevention alongside improvements to the intervention system is essential.

March 27, 2022 - The nurses who serve Maine’s poorest families saw their ranks dwindle under former Gov. Paul LePage. They haven’t rebounded much under Gov. Janet Mills.

March 22, 2022 - The Maine Department of Education under Gov. Janet Mills is proposed making local school districts responsible for special education screenings of 3- to 5-year-olds as well as for providing appropriate services to children with disabilities and developmental delays. Those services are currently provided by a state agency.

January 21, 2022 - Many families in Maine experience challenges to providing safe, nurturing homes for their children. In response to recent child deaths, high levels of reports of abuse and neglect and the stressors added by the pandemic, Maine has an obligation and opportunity to respond. We can and must act to build an effective child well-being and family strengthening system with a dual focus on supporting families to prevent maltreatment and effective child protective response when families are in crisis. We all have a role to play in developing a child welfare system that better supports the needs of Maine families; it is up to all of us to work together now to make it happen.

January 19, 2022 - The Maine Child Welfare Action Network, a group made of up of several organizations that promote the well-being of children, is calling on the state to strengthen supports for families.

October 23, 2021 - Despite its rural setting and high poverty rates, Aroostook County is leading the state when it comes to pre-kindergarten enrollment. Though enrollment declined statewide during the pandemic, more Aroostook parents opted for public education than any other part of the state, by a wide margin.

Local and state experts say easy access and public investment are a big part of Aroostook’s success. Now legislators and advocates are turning to The County as an example of how public pre-K could expand throughout the state.

October 12, 2021 - The Delta variant has brought renewed concern about the risk COVID-19 poses for our children. A recent CDC study indicated that since the rise of the Delta variant, there has been a tenfold increase in hospitalizations for children ages 0-4. It also showed that hospitalizations for unvaccinated adolescents were 10 times higher than for fully vaccinated youth. These numbers demonstrate the alarming and increasing impact of COVID-19 on the health and safety of children.

September 28, 2021 - It is time that we, as a nation, confront and commit to resolving the child care challenges hindering many families’ economic security, our children’s long-term success, and the continued prosperity of the economy. Making a substantial and sustained investment in America’s child care and early learning system by approving the funding included in the American Families Plan is a critical step in the right direction.

August 18, 2021 - The two Democrats want Congress to make the tax credit permanent, saying it provides critical support for child care and other living expenses.

July 22, 2021 - Parents are now receiving fully refundable monthly 2021 Advance Child Tax Credit payments, and advocates for children and families have urged Congress to make them permanent. Nearly one in four Maine families reported difficulty paying for usual household expenses in the last week. The expansion increased the credit to $3,000 annually per child age 6 and up, and $3,600 for kids 5 and younger.

July 2, 2021 - The state must prioritize prevention and early intervention services to stabilize struggling Maine families before they are in crisis. The recently reported deaths of four Maine children in the past month send an alarm signal to those concerned with the safety of our children and call for an intensive review, both within state government and in communities across our state, of how these tragic deaths could have been prevented. We should also take this moment to assess how we can prevent the breakdown of healthy family functioning, so fewer children experience the trauma of abuse or neglect.

June 1, 2021 - As Maine parents with young children try to return to the workplace, they’re facing problems when it comes to finding child care.

May 13, 2021 - Maine faces a tight deadline and familiar access challenges as it works to vaccinate children over 12 against the coronavirus in schools prior to the summer, when access could prove to be more difficult. 

May 10, 2021 - President Joe Biden is proposing the federal government spend $200 billion to provide universal pre-kindergarten. That proposal would no doubt benefit many, but there could be some hurdles for Maine to overcome. Morning Edition host Irwin Gratz spoke with Maine Children's Alliance Senior Policy Analyst Rita Furlow about the proposal.

April 9, 2021 - The Maine Children’s Alliance is committed to providing data to inform public policy, with the aim that all children thrive and meet their full potential. Where possible, the 2021 Maine KIDS COUNT Data Book highlights 2020 indicators that reflect the current situation for children and families. Earlier figures from 2019 can serve as a baseline for assessing well-being before the onset of the crisis. The Data Book reveals positive trends for children and families as well as key areas of concern.

March 4, 2021 - The American Rescue Plan — the federal COVID relief proposal currently moving through Congress — has the power to cut child poverty in our nation and in our state by nearly half. In Maine, this means close to 15,000 children would be lifted above the poverty line, and many more would benefit. It’s exactly the kind of bold policy we need to begin making our post-pandemic “new normal” more equitable and give families the chance to rebuild.

January 13, 2021 - The recent lawsuit filed against Maine DHHS alleging the overuse and misuse of psychotropic medications for children in state custody underscores the need for continued vigilance to ensure Maine’s most vulnerable kids are getting the care they need.

August 31, 2020 - Finding affordable, high-quality child care in Maine has been a longstanding issue – but the coronavirus pandemic has brought on additional challenges. Some facilities around the state have had to close or limit capacities, leaving families with fewer options.

August 8, 2020 - The state recently announced that school districts in all 16 counties can consider in-person instruction, with “green” ratings based on assessments of COVID-19 risk. Nevertheless, school administrators face the difficult task of coming up with plans that best support the needs of students, while at the same time meeting all the new health and safety requirements. Given limited resources and local circumstances such as facility space, priorities will need to be made.

July 4, 2020 - Twenty percent of Maine's licensed child care programs are closed and some will never reopen, leaving parents looking desperately for slots that were in short supply even before the pandemic.

June 25, 2020 - A national report ranks Maine in the top quarter among states for overall child well-being. The annual Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Book shows Maine faring fourth in the category of family and community indicators, including fewer children living in high-poverty areas.

June 3, 2020 - The Maine Children’s Alliance stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and the protests against police brutality and institutional racism. We recognize that it is impossible to meet our mission to promote policies and practices so that all Maine children and families thrive, when racist systems deny opportunity for Black people in our communities.

March 31, 2020 - Starting March 16, the US Census began mailing forms to every household in the country. Amidst the current coronavirus crisis, it’s even more important now for everyone to know that it has never been easier or safer to complete the census online, by the phone, or by mail – all without a census taker coming to your door.

February 29, 2020 - Data from the 2020 Census will be used to determine federal funding for essential programs and services for young children and families. It is critical that everyone gets counted, so communities get their fair share. That’s why advocates and providers are working to get the word out about the importance of counting everyone in the upcoming census — especially young children.

February 1, 2020 - Thank you for your Jan. 9 editorial making the point that the lack of affordable, high-quality early care and education is not just a problem for Maine families with infants and young children. We all need to be concerned about its impact on Maine’s economy today, as well as its implications for developing our future workforce.

January 3, 2020 - On New Year’s Day, the minimum wage in Maine rose to $12 an hour, raising the pay for more than 170,000 workers in the state. It is the final significant increase in the state’s minimum wage that was set in motion by voters in 2016. Since then the state’s minimum wage has risen incrementally from $7.50 an hour. In coming years, adjustments will align with a measure of inflation. The voter-approved wage increase had immediate impacts.

December 16, 2019 - Maine has the nation’s highest rate of anxiety and the third highest rate of depression among children ages 3-7. It is above the national rate for behavior problems and children diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Attention Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD). 

December 12, 2019 - The Maine Children’s Alliance has hired Stephanie Eglinton as its new executive director. Eglinton brings extensive experience with Maine’s philanthropic and nonprofit communities. Most recently, she worked as a senior program officer at the Maine Community Foundation, where she led the foundation’s statewide initiative to improve outcomes for young children in Maine.

November 27, 2019 - Raising the minimum wage isn’t the only solution to reducing poverty or increasing standards of living, but it certainly helps. For this reason, Maine can serve as one example for why the federal minimum wage should be increased.