Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and the New Hampshire congressional delegation announced Tuesday that 17 grantees received over $9 million in federal funding for child care, health care, infrastructure development, and outdoor recreation.  The funding is from the Northern Border Regional Commission, a federal-state partnership aimed at economic and community development within New Hampshire, Maine, New York, […]

New Hampshire’s Executive Council approved a contract to continue funding the “Get the Lead Out of Drinking Water” program for child care facilities on Wednesday.   Since 2018, the state has required schools and licensed child care programs to test for lead in drinking water outlets, including fountains, classroom sinks, and kitchen fixtures. If lead levels […]

At first glance, The Growing Years Early Childhood Center in Manchester doesn’t look like it’s financially struggling. The parking lot is full, and the hallways are loud with the sounds of infants and playing toddlers. But the main hall leads to an empty classroom because Kitty Larochelle, the center’s executive director, can’t afford what’s necessary […]

New Hampshire has a child care workforce shortage, and it is looking to its community colleges to address one part of that issue: the development pipeline. For Diana Menard, the department chair of education and child and family services at New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord, the shift in early education happened almost a decade […]

Gov. Kelly Ayotte said she is “deeply committed” to pushing for state investments in child care amid ongoing funding obstacles and workforce shortages.  During a forum on investing in child care Thursday in Manchester, Ayotte told child care advocates, stakeholders, and business owners that despite the “challenging budget environment,” New Hampshire remains committed to the […]

Earlier this month, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced new goals for increasing child care capacity. Some advocates, however, say they’re concerned that the state may be “putting the cart before the horse.” DHHS Commissioner Lori Weaver said the department’s Roadmap 2025-2027 aims to set “priorities and initiatives” for the biennium […]

A panel of lawmakers on Thursday approved an update to the state’s child care program licensing rule after more than a year of meetings and feedback from the early care and education community. “I personally think it’s a work of art,” said Shannon Tremblay, director of the New Hampshire Child Care Advisory Council, of the […]

As of last month, more than 5,000 New Hampshire children are benefiting from a scholarship program aimed at making child care affordable for families, an official with the state said Thursday. The latest numbers, presented at a meeting of the New Hampshire Child Care Advisory Council, mark a continued uptick in the use of the […]