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Early Childhood Profile

 OverviewHealth and Nutrition

State policies that promote health, education, and strong families can help the early development and school readiness of America's youngest citizens. This profile highlights Maine's policy choices alongside other contextual data related to the well-being of young children.

State Highlights1

The state legislature established the Children’s Growth Council as a permanent body to guide policy and investment in the healthy development of children and families. The Council will meet in early 2010 to discuss recommendations on creating higher education opportunities for child care providers. Additionally, providers receiving child care subsidies are now required to enroll in the state's Quality Rating System. Maine anticipates an increase of $2 million in pre-kindergarten funding, for a total of $6.1 million available for programs. Total FY 2010 pre-kindergarten funding for Maine is $12.6 million, including local funding. At the same time, funding for home visiting has been reduced by 9.4 percent in the new budget.

  • Young children (under age 6)2: 81,559
Young children by income, 2008

Young children by income, 20082

Young children by race/ethnicity, 2008

Young children by race/ethnicity, 20082

Exposure to multiple risk factors* among young children, 2008

Exposure to multiple risk factors* among young children, 20083


 Health and Nutrition

Data Notes and Sources

Last Updated: December 4, 2009

Send us recent developments to update your state's profile.

  1. State Highlights are drawn from states' government and organization websites and reports. For more information, contact ITO@nccp.org.
  2. State data were calculated from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (the March supplement) of the Current Population Survey from 2007, 2008, and 2009, representing information from calendar years 2006, 2007, and 2008. NCCP averaged three years of data because of small sample sizes in less populated states. The national data were calculated from the 2009 data, representing information from the previous calendar year.
  3. National and state data were calculated from the 2008 American Community Survey.