Maine lawmakers have launched an investigation into late payments from the Department of Health and Human Services to child care providers — including one facility in Aroostook County that’s now in the process of closing because of what it said were challenges related to the delays.
The Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee will open the probe at the request of Sens. Rick Bennett of Oxford, Brad Farrin of Somerset and Jeff Timberlake of Androscoggin, according to a Monday press release from the Senate Republican Office.
The issue of late payments has been felt all over Maine, according to the lawmakers.
Kelly’s Place Learning Center of Presque Isle recently announced it would close this month, due largely to funding delays for children of lower-income families. And in Trenton, provider Betsey Grant was forced to close her facility temporarily in September because of late payments, according to WMTW.
Maine’s Child Care Subsidy Program, part of the Child Care Affordability Program, helps families at lower income levels pay for their children to attend facilities like Kelly’s Place. Most of the 74 children who attend the center are covered by those subsidies, owner Shyla Pinette said last month.
When payments don’t come on time, facility owners often have difficulty paying their bills. Kelly’s Place had fallen so far behind that its only option was to close. Pinette had no idea what caused the delays in state money.
Pinette appealed to the Presque Isle City Council in September for help with a $100,000 Community Development Block Grant to keep operating. She never received the grant, but even that wouldn’t have helped her recoup her debts, she said.
Bennett, Farrin and Timberlake all serve on the Government Oversight Committee.
“There’s no problem with the cash reserves of the state; there is something about the processing of payments that is creating significant hardship for providers across the state,” Bennett said.
Timberlake has heard from many child care providers who have experienced late payments, he said, adding he hopes the investigation will lead to reforms at DHHS.
“Late payments are nothing new for the State of Maine. Payments to Maine Veterans’ Homes that were authorized by the Legislature in 2023 were not dispersed for over a year,” Farrin said. “The State must meet its contractual obligations to pay for critical services.”
The County is considered a “child-care desert” because the numbers of infants and toddlers needing placement far outnumber available providers, a problem it has struggled with for several years. Parents who work outside the home often face a dilemma: find child care or forgo work.
When Jordyn Rossignol closed Miss Jordan’s Child Care and Preschool in Caribou in August 2023 due to rising costs and inadequate staff, more than 100 children and their families were affected.
Later that year, Mrs. Kaitie’s Laugh & Learn Academy opened in Houlton. The need was so great that there were almost immediately more than 100 children on the waiting list.
The Aroostook County Action Program, based in Presque Isle, is aware of the coming closure of Kelly’s Place and the area’s increasing child care needs and plans to add more space for children 5 to 12 years old, officials reported in a Feb. 25 newsletter.
It’s “taking measures to add up to two school aged childcare classrooms at its Gouldville Early Care and Education Center on Park Street in Presque Isle within the coming months,” the newsletter stated.
Last year, the agency launched a similar program for school-aged children at Caribou Community School.
ACAP is also exploring an arrangement with Easton Elementary School to offer a day care program for infants and toddlers, as well as other programs for school-aged children.
The Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability will report its findings on DHHS payments to the Government Oversight Committee.
