Two new child care centers will open in Freeport and South Portland next year, adding 200 infant and toddler slots.
Josh Waxman, with United Way of Southern Maine, said the hope is to offer 24/7 care to meet the needs of working families.
“What we’ve heard from business partners is that the shift worker that’s working overnight, they need child care, too, whether that’s hospital, whether that’s someone who’s working overnight in a factory or on the assembly line,” he said.
Waxman said these centers are part of a new initiative to create 400 child care slots over the next five years across southern Maine with a focus on supporting ALICE households, families who earn more than the federal poverty level, but less than enough to make ends meet.
“The mechanics of that we’re continuing to work through with the goal of really having both market rate and subsidized slots to ensure that there’s access for those ALICE families, those working families,” Waxman said.
United for Child Care, the new nonprofit set to run the centers, is a collaboration between United Way of Southern Maine and the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
