​Strengthening Early Care Options for Families Across Coös County

Families in Coös County rely on childcare to work, learn, and thrive — yet access remains one of our region’s biggest challenges. Long waitlists, limited infant/toddler openings, and staffing shortages mean that too many families struggle to secure safe, reliable care.
To meet this moment, partners across the county are working together to expand capacity, support providers, and build a more stable childcare system for years to come. 

Before launching new childcare efforts, families, providers, and community leaders helped us take a clear-eyed look at what’s working—and what isn’t. The North Country Childcare Report highlights what we learned together and the steps we’re taking to build a stronger system for young children.

childcare report

Our Approach

​A strong childcare system doesn’t appear overnight. It grows through collaboration, planning, and local innovation. Together with providers, schools, families, and regional partners, we are focused on three key strategies:

Support Community-Led Childcare Expansion

Instead of building new programs on our own, we help the people closest to the work—childcare directors, schools, and local partners—grow the spaces families need.

Current expansion efforts include:

• Stratford & Colebrook Country Day
  Working together to open a new satellite site in the Stratford school building that will eventually serve infants through pre-K, expanding local options in a high-need area.
• Gorham Community Learning Center
  Moving forward with multiple expansion projects, including a Credit Union site (contractor RFPs out; anticipated opening in early 2026) and planning with Androscoggin Valley Hospital for an additional childcare site.
• Lancaster Play & Learn
  Exploring a second site to create a dedicated Nursery and a separate pre-kindergarten center, increasing overall capacity across age levels.

This work is now led by the Coös Directors Network through Evergreen Start, with the Coalition serving as a strategic partner—aligning the childcare strategy with our broader system goals and advocating for policies and funding that make expansion possible.

Strengthen Childcare Providers & Operations

Running a high-quality childcare program in a rural county is hard work. Directors are juggling staffing, licensing, budgets, and family needs all at once. The Coös Directors Network, now operating as Evergreen Start, is building the backbone that supports programs in staying open and growing.
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This includes:

• Peer learning and problem-solving among directors
• Business and fiscal sponsorship support so that centers can focus more on children and families
• Help navigate facilities, budgeting, and expansion planning.
• Connections to professional development and technical assistance offered through regional partners

​By stabilizing the business side of childcare, we help preserve existing slots and enable programs to expand when they’re ready. 

Support Community-Driven Solutions​

Childcare challenges don’t look the same in every town. That’s why expansion projects are designed with local partners—schools, centers, employers, and families—rather than using a one-size-fits-all model.

Across Coös County, this looks like:
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• School–center partnerships (like Stratford and Colebrook Country Day) that bring childcare into school buildings
• Health and hospital partners (like AVH) are exploring space and support for new sites.
• Directors, families, and community leaders identify what kind of care is needed most—infant/toddler, mixed-age, or preschool—and plan accordingly.

These projects are rooted in local relationships and are built to fit the strengths and realities of each community.

Together, these projects move us toward our shared goal of adding 300 high-quality childcare spaces for working families by 2027.

Our Role in the Childcare Strategy​

The Coalition launched and incubated the Childcare Tactical Team and helped convene partners around shared goals, including adding 300 childcare spaces by June 30, 2027. Effective July 1, leadership of the childcare expansion strategy—and remaining FY25 childcare funds—transitioned to the Coös Directors Network/Evergreen Start.

​The Coalition now serves as a:

• Strategic partner, keeping childcare aligned with the broader Systems Plan 2.0
• Connector, linking childcare efforts with SEL, behavioral health, Raising Strong Families, and developmental screening
• Advocate, helping lift data and stories to inform policy and funding decisions.