Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Working Parents And Child Care: Charting A New Course For Quality, Michael Lahti, Rachel Connelly, Georgia N. Nigro, Rebecca Fraser-Thill

Maine Policy Review

Close to two-thirds of children in Maine under the age of five need child care while their parents work. The quality of child care is a critical policy concern, since research has found that early childhood experience plays a major role in later-life success for individuals. The authors report on findings from three studies regarding child care arrangements in Maine and the quality of child care in the state and nationally. They describe the development and implementation of Maine’s new Quality Rating System (QRS) for child care facilities, Quality for ME, and the role that it can play both in …