BY THE NUMBERS: COVID-19’S IMPACT ON CHILD CARE

Maine

CHILD CARE IS ESSENTIAL TO
AMERICA’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY

• July state-by-state data from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) illustrates the dire circumstances for child care centers and family child care homes in Maine. Of those surveyed:

› 27% of child care programs are certain that, without additional public assistance, they will close permanently.

› At the time the survey was open, 20% of child care centers and 4% of family child care homes remained closed.

› Of programs that are open, 73% are serving fewer children now than they were prior to the pandemic. Overall, average enrollment is down by 44%.

› 57% of respondents agree with this state’s guidelines for child care; of those who don’t agree, 15% think they go “too far” in terms of health and safety regulations and an equal percentage are concerned they don’t do enough to protect health and safety.

› 89% of programs are paying more for cleaning supplies; 43% for personal protective equipment; and 24% are paying more for staff and personnel costs.

› Respondents were asked what supports their program received to help it survive: 22 programs said they received the Paycheck Protection Program, including 7 large child care programs and 15 small child care programs; of these, 11 are family child care homes and 1 is a minority-owned business.

› 67% of programs responding to the survey have engaged in furlough, pay cuts, or layoffs.

› Assuming they are operating at 80% of capacity or less, 51% of programs responding to the survey expect to close within six months, if they don’t receive additional public support.

• According to the Center for American Progress, 22,814 licensed child care slots are at risk of disappearing, which represents 48% of licensed child care slots.

• In March, 144 child care providers in Maine responded to a NAEYC survey reporting that 34% would not survive closing for more than two weeks without significant public investment and support that would allow them to compensate and retain staff, pay rent, and cover other fixed costs.

• A second survey in April with 185 child care providers responding in Maine indicated that 50% of child care programs were completely closed, with another 11% open only for children of essential workers.

› Of providers who are still open, 56% are operating at less than 25% capacity.

› 38% of respondents reported needing to either lay off or furlough employees, or reported being laid off or furloughed themselves. Another 43% anticipated such actions occurring in the next 1-4 weeks.

› 33% of respondents said they have applied for an SBA Loan. 83% were either worried about being able to pay back a loan or did not want to take out new loans.

• Maine received $11 million in supplemental funds in the CARES Act to serve the children of front-line and essential workers and support providers yet, we know this is not enough to cover the impacts COVID-19 has had on the child care market and ensure providers will be there when the economy beings to open up. To read more about how your state has allocated its supplemental funding, click here.