Announcements
Child Care
Infant and Toddler child care programs in Ellsworth, Machias, and Calais are now accepting applications for children starting at 6 weeks of age up to 3 years old.
Preschool child care programs in the above listed towns and in Sedgwick are also accepting applications for children ages 3 to 5 (with some availability for school age care up to age 8).
CFO offers child care subsidies to families needing help in paying for child care. The amount of subsidy is dependent on financial need.
Head Start
Our Head Start programs, located in 12 towns across the bi-county area (see our locations), are also accepting applications at this time for the 2010-2011 program year (September through May or June.) Head Start programs serve children 3 to 5 years old. Several of our programs are in collaboration with Public Pre-K programs and are located in the public school.
There is no fee for our Head Start programs.
Enrollment for all programs is coordinated by our Administrative Office in Ellsworth. To discuss the enrollment process, or learn more about child care subsidies, contact the Enrollment Specialist, at (207) 667 2995 ext. 237.
Head Start Application
Braelynn Bird trying on a new hat at the Ellsworth Early Care and Education Center
introduction
Child and Family Opportunities, Inc. is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to provide high quality, comprehensive early childhood services in the communities we serve.
Founded in 1970, our organization is the leading resource for early childhood services in Down East Maine. We promote core values of respect, acceptance, and professionalism in serving young children and their families, and advocate for adequate resources and the building of collaborative relationships to promote the well being of our communities.
Based out of 12 center-based programs located in Washington and Hancock counties, we provide a unique model of consultation, administrative support, advocacy, and services focused on early childhood education, health, and development. Our Head Start and child care programs have been recognized as Programs of Quality by both state and federal government.
Child and Family Opportunities, Inc. also sponsors Healthy Peninsula, a community health program for the Blue Hill Peninsula, and Child Care Opportunities, a Resource and Development Center dedicated to facilitating child care solutions for parents, child care providers, and community members.
We are a proud local employer and maintain about 100 staff members. We are governed by a board of 12 community volunteers and clients.
our history
Child and Family Opportunities, Inc. (CFO) was founded in 1970 with the initial plan of becoming a community action program for Hancock County. In time, the CAP idea was dropped in favor of focusing our mission towards serving children and their families with Head Start and Child Care services. Since our inception, our service area for center-based programs has expanded to include Washington County. In addition, we provide limited services in Waldo County through our sponsorship of the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Over the years, the CFO mission has grown to reflect the changing needs of our society. As more women have joined the workforce, the demand for child care services has increased. In addition to providing child care for children ages six weeks through school-age, we expanded into the fields of child care resource and referral, family child care support, training and technical assistance, and providing subsidized child care services. In 1971 we began the sponsorship of one family child care home in the Child and Adult Care Food Program. Since that time, our child care food program has grown to a network of more than 40 family child care programs.
As the demands of raising children have increased, and stresses have mounted for families, the need for comprehensive Head Start and Early Head Start services has never been so great. Once limited to 55 children in three centers in Hancock County, our Head Start and Early Head Start programs now serve more than 300 children in 12 centers across Hancock and Washington counties.
In 2006 we enhanced our agency mission when we became the sponsor of Healthy Peninsula (HP), a community public health promotion program on the Blue Hill Peninsula. HP supports communities by building a coalition of citizens who work to improve community health. This has allowed CFO and HP to work together to reduce the effects of second hand smoke on young children, improve the nutrition services to children and families, and reduce toxins in communities and homes through Lead Poison Prevention programs.