PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s U.S. senators say a Portland group has been awarded $400,000 to help improve rural child care in the state.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Community Economic Development Grant Program is awarding the grant to Coastal Enterprises Inc. The funding will help CEI implement a project called the Incubating Child Care Centers in Rural Maine Project.
[Maine has a child care access problem and untapped resources to address it]
The senators say more than two thirds of Maine children under the age of six live in households where all parents are working. That is especially burdensome in rural parts of the state that have less access to services.