Bill > LD1736

This bill requires the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) to enter into direct contracts with child care providers to increase the availability of child care in Maine. These direct contracts allow OCFS to provide specific child care slots to providers, focusing first on hard-to-serve populations such as children under 3 years old, children with disabilities, and children in underserved geographic areas. The office can also use these contracts to support additional groups with child care needs, which may include homeless children, children in the child welfare system, children needing care during non-traditional hours, children whose primary language is not English, and other regionally identified needs. Before establishing contract priorities, the office must review regional needs assessments from sources like Head Start programs and early childhood learning groups. The bill authorizes OCFS to use funding from public and private sources to implement these contracts and requires the office to create routine technical rules to govern the contract process. The overall goal is to increase child care availability and stabilize payment practices for child care providers across Maine.

Health and Social Services

https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?LD=1736&snum=132