AUGUSTA  — Maine’s Democratic governor is bringing back the state’s children’s cabinet in hopes of reducing youth drop-out, recidivism and incarceration rates.

Gov. Janet Mills says in a Thursday announcement that she wants to focus on helping Maine children succeed in school, enter the workforce and live healthy lives.

The governor says 37 towns of the top 50 with the highest poverty rates in New England in 2010 were located in Maine.

She says one in six Maine children are living in poverty.

Gov. Angus King established the Children’s Cabinet in 1996 as a way to coordinate on policies and programs for children and youth. It last met in 2010.

The cabinet has urged Maine to expand quality and accessible early child care and education.

Mills also wants to address the number of children suffering substantiated child abuse, which is up 25 percent from 2017 to 2018.