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Victoria Forkus is managing director of the Maine Community Action Partnership.
A strong economy is contingent on a strong workforce. Yet across our state, a persistent barrier keeps getting in the way for parents: the lack of affordable, reliable child care.
For many families, child care is the infrastructure that makes entering the workforce possible. When care is unavailable or unaffordable, parents miss shifts, reduce hours, or leave jobs altogether. This has a ripple effect for employers who experience the impact through staffing shortages and turnover. These challenges are not isolated; they are happening in every region of our state.
This legislative session, Maine lawmakers have an opportunity to address this issue in a meaningful and coordinated way by fully funding three bills: LD 1955, LD 2066, and LD 1414. Together, the strategies outlined in these bills would address child care affordability, stabilize the child care workforce, and expand access to infant and toddler care.
LD 1955 focuses on child care affordability by investing in the Child Care Affordability Program (CCAP). This program helps income‑eligible working families pay for care, yet today more than 800 Maine families remain on a waitlist. For these parents, the absence of assistance has immediate consequences. In the absence of affordable care, remaining employed can become impossible.
In Maine, 67% of children under age 5 have all available parents in the workforce. For these families, child care is not an option — it is a prerequisite to stable employment. The Child Care Affordability Program (CCAP) provides financial support and allows parents to remain active in the workforce. However, CCAP is not currently funded at a sustainable level when compared to the demonstrated need across our state.
Currently, more than 800 eligible families are on a waitlist for this critical support. If we continue to operate CCAP without sustainable funding, Maine families will navigate uncertainty that undermines both household and workplace stability. But access to child care alone does not solve the problem if there aren’t enough educators to staff classrooms, and if infant and toddler care is not available in all areas of our state.
LD 2066 establishes the Child Care Employment Award (CCEA), which is a critical strategy for retaining Maine’s child care educators. Child Care workers earn some of the lowest wages in the state, and many struggle to afford child care for their own children.
The CCEA addresses a growing need and supports those doing this essential work. The proposed funding for this bill would allow 350 child care educators to benefit from the employment awards, allowing them to afford care for their families and remain active in the workforce. To strengthen our child care system, we must support the individuals on the front lines of care. In addition, increasing retention in classrooms directly enhances the quality of care provided to our children.
LD 1414 addresses the prohibitive cost of providing infant and toddler care. The cost of this type of care is significantly higher, yet historically, reimbursement rates fall below the true cost of providing this service. As a direct result of the cost, many providers either reduce these slots or have eliminated them, even though demand continues to grow.
On average, infant care in Maine costs 17.3% of a family’s total household income, even though the federal affordability threshold is no more than 7%. This legislation increases reimbursement rates for infant and toddler care and supports expanded hours of care for non-traditional work – for those parents who don’t work a typical 9-to-5 job.
Individually, each of these bills addresses a gap in our existing child care system. Together, they form a comprehensive strategy that delivers immediate and long‑term impact: LD 1955 would reduce CCAP waitlists so parents can work, the program can be funded sustainably, and our workforce can thrive. LD 2066 would retain educators so classrooms remain open, accessible, and improves the overall quality of care. LD 1414 would strengthen infant and toddler care where shortages are most severe by increasing reimbursement rates and expanding the availability of after-hours care
These bills do not propose a short‑term fix; they are data-driven solutions to address the existing and persistent challenges within our child care infrastructure. These targeted and evidence-based investments will support families, businesses, and Maine’s economic future.
The solutions are clear. We urge the Maine legislature to fund LD 1955, LD 2066, and LD 1414.
