MACHIAS – With plastic play sets and high fences, their front yards are a giveaway to their professions.

Inside their homes, toys take up the living room, even as youngsters take naps elsewhere. The kitchen is always ready to handle hungry little ones.

Throw in phone calls from parents who are running late, and it’s enough to make a child care provider reach out to another care provider in the same situation.

That’s what three or four dozen child care providers are trying to do more of within Washington County.

Many providers are feeling, however, that it’s just not the way it used to be, when a different agency held the state contract as the regional Resource Development Center that offers training, networking and just general hand-holding if needed.

Several of the Washington County providers are expected to meet tonight at 6 with Child and Family Opportunities, the Ellsworth agency that contracts with the Department of Health and Human Services to work with child care providers Down East.

The meeting takes place at the Machias CareerCenter. It is planned as a time for providers to air their concerns, and for the agency, which took over the contract 13 months ago, to respond.

“We need to come to a meeting of the minds,” said Sally Joy, a Machias provider who has cared for children in her home for 18 years as the Bundles of Joy business.

Child and Family Opportunities has its head office in Hancock County, and that’s part of the problem, the Washington County providers say. There just haven’t been enough training classes held in Machias or elsewhere in Washington County. And when the classes are offered in Ellsworth, they start at 5:30 p.m. – forcing the Washington County providers to close up early for the day just to arrive on time for the class.

Not so fast, said Susan Failing, the director who handles the Child Care Opportunities Resource Development Center for child care providers in both Hancock and Washington counties, as part of the larger Child and Family Opportunities agency.

Of the $27,000 portion of the state contract that is dedicated to training for child care providers, a sizable amount more was spent in the first 12 months in Washington County ($17,692) than in Hancock County ($12,440).

Moreover, there are only 68 active child care providers licensed by the state in Washington County, compared with the 136 similar providers working in Hancock County, according to Failing’s numbers.

“We have contract requirements, and we have exceeded those requirements,” Failing, who will lead this evening’s meeting for the agency, said Monday.

“Sometimes it’s necessary to talk face to face if [Washington County providers] have additional needs. Perhaps their perception may not be accurate. But their perception is their reality.”

The numbers suggest that Washington County providers are being cared for according to the contract. But there’s another undercurrent at play, and it’s about the Washington Hancock Community Agency.

“There is a lot of emotion about the contract being lost,” Failing said.

Based in Milbridge, the Washington Hancock Community Agency held the state contract for years – around $200,000 annually – to look out for both Washington and Hancock county providers. Problems were few, and training opportunities were plentiful on both sides of the county line.

During 2004, the last year WHCA was in charge, Machias provider Anita McCurdy amassed 103 hours of training at sites in Machias and Milbridge.

But since October 2004, when Child and Family Opportunities assumed the contract, McCurdy has gotten in just eight hours of training. The state’s providers must take a minimum of 12 hours of training each year to stay current and licensed.

What Child and Family Opportunities has offered has been the basic backbone of Maine Roads to Quality, the state’s program that awards accreditation after completion of 180 hours of training. But several of Washington County’s providers are wishing for more advanced training – without having to drive to Ellsworth.

“We have kind of outgrown what we are being offered,” McCurdy said.

She and others are calling for more training in more places – although Failing points out that classes have been held in Princeton, Calais, Lubec and Machias in the last year.

The training schedule on one of the agency’s Web pages outlines classes that have been scheduled between October 2005 and September 2006.

For Washington County providers, there are three classes in Machias and another one in Calais. For Hancock County providers, there are four classes in Ellsworth, two in Blue Hill and one in Bar Harbor.

There are five more training sessions scheduled for Ellsworth, with a PolyCom live link into Machias.

But following along through the telecast may leave the Washington County providers feeling like they continue to lack the professional networking they so covet. Ten-hour spans with interaction only with children makes for long, tiring days.

The providers’ range of concerns will be tackled this evening. Sally Joy has been the lead organizer for their perspective.

Lori Barbee, who runs the Wee Care Child Care business from her home in Cherryfield, will speak on behalf of those who work with children in their homes. Sissy Jellison of Milbridge will represent center-based providers, or those who work with another business or facility.

Barbee, for one, believes that any problems, perceived or real, may be due to “miscommunication,” mostly.

“We need to talk about this in an adult fashion,” she said. “We need to open up our doors to letting them know what we need, and we need to hear what else they can do for us.”

Failing of the agency plans to be all ears.

“Any provider’s needs are legitimate,” Failing said. “We want to hear from them if they feel that they need more. We want to get those needs met.”