We are excited to share the launch of Help Me Grow Maine, a resource developed by Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services. This is a free, easy-to-access resource that connects children up to 8 years of age and their families, as well as pregnant people, with information and services related to child development and other family needs. Please share this resource with your school support staff, families, and school communities.
More about ‘Help Me Grow, Helping Families in Maine’
The earliest years of a child’s life present great opportunities to promote positive outcomes that will set a trajectory for the rest of their lives. Resources and services to address the needs of families with young children must work together as a coordinated system to have the greatest possible impact in this critical developmental time frame.
Throughout the state of Maine, there is an existing grid of resources to help provide for the development and well-being of Maine’s children. This grid works as designed for some families; they easily connect and receive a consistent supply of what is needed to support them. For many other families, though, connecting with the grid is a challenge. They can’t readily plug in, and if they do connect, they experience an inconsistent flow of resources, for a variety of reasons. Those reasons could include confusing eligibility requirements, difficulty reaching or hearing back from a resource after trying to connect, siloed programs with limited knowledge of each other, and many others. These challenges and more can prevent families from connecting with the supports they and their children need to be healthy in every way.
Help Me Grow Maine exists to strengthen this resource grid. This is accomplished by connecting families to providers, and providers to other providers, in ways that improve success in access. Help Me Grow’s Resource Specialists support families all over the state, and importantly, also report to stakeholders and policymakers the ongoing needs in our communities. Our central access point is a way for all families of children birth to eight, as well as pregnant people, to reach out and be linked with information, resources, and referrals to the already-existing services that are part of the grid here in Maine. We are a low-barrier resource, requiring no formal referral from a professional, no financial or diagnostic criteria, and no paperwork to complete to begin the process.
Reasons to reach out to Help Me Grow include:
- You are working with a family that needs additional supports, but you are unsure what they are eligible for/where to refer them.
- A family needs support in getting successfully through the process to connect with a program or resources (CDS, Targeted Case Management, Early Care and Education settings, etc.).
- You would like to speak as a professional with a resource specialist about what resources are available for a family you are working with, or about resources in your area in general.
- You would like a child to receive a developmental and/or social-emotional screening.
Help Me Grow is now available statewide. Support through Help Me Grow can be accessed by both families and providers by calling 207-624-7969 or via our online referral portal found here: Help Me Grow Maine Online Referral. Families can also access support via our partnership with 211 Maine; when calling 211, Option 5 will transfer callers to a Resource Specialist from Help Me Grow, and 211 specialists also collaborate to provide “warm transfers” of callers to Help Me Grow when appropriate.
For more information or to complete a developmental screening, please visit our website. You can also reach out to Melinda Corey, Help Me Grow Outreach Specialist, to learn more (207-441-1553, call or text; melinda.corey@maine.gov).