In their first years, children are rapidly developing – mentally, socially, emotionally, and physically – in ways that will impact their future health and well-being. During this critical window of growth, children’s families lay the groundwork for healthy development by providing nurturing relationships, creating safe homes, and meeting basic needs. But young children also benefit from services and supports that assess their progress in key areas of development, specialized support in improving their abilities and skills, and opportunities to learn and grow alongside other children in preschool.

Our latest Data Snapshot examines how these early childhood supports have reached Maine families in recent years. While there are encouraging signs among the trends, not all Maine families are receiving timely interventions and services. That’s why the John T. Gorman Foundation has invested in strategic partnerships across the state to strengthen these crucial supports for Maine’s youngest children and their families.

By the Numbers

Developmental screenings for young children are climbing, but there is still room to grow.

Developmental screenings are an important tool that healthcare and other early childhood providers use alongside families to understand how a child is developing cognitively, socially, emotionally, and physically.  This information can be used to assist families in accessing the services, supports, and experiences their child may need. The American Pediatric Association recommends that children receive developmental screenings at 9, 18, and 30 months of age.

While Maine’s rate of developmental screenings has grown in recent years and is consistently above the national average, just under half of Maine children under the age of 3 have not been screened.

Source: Kids Count Data Center

Maine lags the nation in rate of infants and toddlers receiving early intervention services, but has shown improvement.

For a young child experiencing developmental delays, early intervention services – including speech, physical, and other therapies – can be critical in helping them make progress toward milestones, prepare for kindergarten, and reduce the need for services later on.

In 2020, Maine had some of the lowest rates of infants and young children receiving early intervention services in the country. Maine’s ranking has since improved, but remains below the national average and all other New England states. In 2023, Maine’s early intervention rate for 1-year-olds was 1.24% — compared to 4.63%, in Massachusetts, 2.72% in New Hampshire, 2.39% in Vermont, 1.65% in Rhode Island, and 1.61% in Connecticut.

Source: IDEA Infant and Toddler Coordinator Association annual reports, 2019-2023

A significant share of Maine’s 3- and 4-year-olds are not in preschool, though the enrollment rate of public pre-K is steadily climbing.

Access to quality preschool programming can give young children valuable opportunities to gain developmental, social, learning, and other skills they need to be ready for kindergarten. From 2018-2022, however, 59% of Maine children ages 3 to 4 were not enrolled in preschool or pre-kindergarten programs – above the national rate of 54%. (Source: Kids Count Data Center)

During a similar timeframe, Maine’s public pre-K enrollment dropped due to the pandemic, but has since recovered and is climbing. In the current school year, 91% of Maine’s School Administrative Units offer a public pre-K option – and 57% of Maine 4-year-olds are enrolled.

Source: Maine Department of Education

From Statistics to Strategies

The John T. Gorman Foundation is working with several partners to increase access to early developmental supports for young children and their families. Two of these efforts are:

• The Midcoast Community Collaborative’s Zero to School Starting Strong initiative, which includes a mobile team of specialists who provide developmental screenings and services to support early childhood health, learning, and developmental needs in Lincoln and Knox Counties.
• Maine Community Integration’s use of Community Healthy Workers to offer intensive, culturally-appropriate supports to families with young children in Lewiston-Auburn.

By investing in these initiatives, we hope to find and share effective strategies that can be leveraged to promote the healthy development of children across the state.