Senate Republican leader Trey Stewart speaks at Senate Republicans’ news conference about child welfare in Maine on Tuesday. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Republican state lawmakers are proposing to make the Office of Child and Family Services a standalone department in an attempt to improve the state’s beleaguered child welfare system, replicating a failed effort made last session by a now-former Democratic senator who has pledged to help them.

Removing the office from the Department of Health and Human Services would help increase transparency and efficiency, Republicans in the House and Senate said Tuesday, as they outlined that and other plans to address problems facing child welfare and safety, which they said would be their top priority this Legislative session.

They’ll be getting a boost from former state Sen. Bill Diamond, a Democrat who sponsored a similar bill last year and has formed a new child safety nonprofit with a high-powered board of directors, including former Gov. John Baldacci, former Attorney General Mike Carpenter and former Department of Heath and Human Services commissioner Michael Petit.

Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle, said child welfare is “the single most important” issue facing lawmakers this session. He said he’s heard from people worried about children being reunited with their parents too soon and children being kept away from their parents when they shouldn’t be.

“There seems to be a significant gap in state government around the subject of reunification,” Stewart said. “It’s leading to bad outcomes.”

The announcements indicate that child protection will be a hotly debated topic this session. And they come less than two weeks after the latest scathing report by the state’s independent child welfare ombudsman, who annually reviews a small percentage of child protective cases based on complaints from parents, family members, and members of the public.

Advertisement

Despite years of focus on the issue and assurances from state officials that new training and programs were being rolled out to address the problems, Ombudsman Christine Alberi reported a “downward trend in child welfare practices” in 2022 that continue to put children at risk.

Last week, the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee, which is conducting an inquiry into the child welfare system, voted to appeal a lower court decision upholding the Mills administration’s position that the committee is prohibited from viewing confidential child protection records.

Those confidential records, the judge agreed, must be sent to the Legislature’s watchdog agency, the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, which then issues a report to the GOC, a process that is currently underway. Committee members, however, say they cannot identify structural problems in the agency without viewing those records for themselves.

Maine reported that more children died in 2021 from abuse, neglect, or in households that had prior involvement with the child protective system than in any year on record.

In all, the state has reported that 30 children died in Maine in 2021 after having contact with the state’s child protective system or as a result of homicide, abuse or neglect. Four more children who died in 2021 are expected to be added to that count after the courts resolve ongoing criminal cases. At least 27 of the children had some sort of child protective history before their deaths, according to state data.

At a news conference Monday, Republicans gave an overview of bills they have submitted to address the issue. But the text of the bills was not available, since the nonpartisan revisor’s office is still drafting language for the more than 2,000 bill submissions.

Advertisement

Creating a standalone department for child welfare is a top priority for Republicans and faces resistance from the Department of Health and Human Services, of which the Office of Child and Family Services is a part.

IDENTICAL BILL

Sen. Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, said that Baldacci made a mistake in 2004 when he merged the office with the Department of Health and Human Services to improve efficiency. Timberlake said he made a similar mistake, sponsoring a bill under former Republican Gov. Paul LePage to merge the departments of agriculture, conservation and forestry.

“It was the worst idea I’ve ever had,” Timberlake said. “I’m here to admit I was wrong.”

Timberlake said his bill is identical to one submitted by Diamond last session, which died between the chambers and did not receive a fiscal note outlining costs.

DHHS opposed Diamond’s bill last session and will likely oppose Timberlake’s bill.

Advertisement

DHHS spokesperson Jackie Farwell said having the office within DHHS allows it to better partner with other offices, including MaineCare services, family independence and behavioral health, to ensure that children and families have healthcare, nutrition, and mental health and substance abuse services.

“The integration of the Office of Child and Family Services with other offices within DHHS has improved efforts at preventing and responding to child abuse and neglect,” Farwell said. “This work is strengthened by the offices’ unification and coordination within DHHS, and will be further facilitated by hiring a coordinator in the commissioner’s office, as recommended by the 130th Legislature, for this purpose.”

Farwell noted that DHHS is sponsoring a bill that would allow hospitals and medical providers to share information with law enforcement during a child abuse or neglect investigation.

Republicans outlined additional proposals, including one bill that also would give caseworkers access to medical records and another that would expand mental health and substance use programs.

TRAINING A CONCERN

Training of both supervisors and new caseworkers, including those just out of college, is also a concern, said Sen. Marianne Moore, R-Calais.

Advertisement

“We still need to have some trained caseworkers,” Moore said. “We’re sending these young caseworkers out there to do a job where they’re just out of college, they may not have the experience. … They need the supervisory training or guidance.”

Mills has proposed a $15 million investment in foster care and adoptions in her $10.3 billion biennial budget, which is about $900 million higher than the current budget. In previous years, she has funded investments to strengthen the ombudsman’s office and to add caseworkers.

However, Mills said last week that about 60 caseworker positions are still vacant.

Mills’ budget proposal, which faces a review and possible changes by lawmakers, leaves unallocated another $200 million of projected revenue over the next two years, meaning lawmakers will have a chance to fund other priorities.

House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross did not directly comment on the bills being proposed by Republicans in a written statement sent by a spokesperson. Talbot Ross said the safety of children should not be a partisan issue and lawmakers should be prepared to make investments to improve the system.

“It is our shared responsibility to ensure our children are protected from abuse and neglect, that families have the supports necessary to thrive, and to invest in the systems and the people overseeing this vital work,” Talbot Ross said.

In the Senate, Democrat Joe Baldacci, of Bangor, is looking to create an office of inspector general for the child welfare division.

Advocates, meanwhile, are looking to increase their influence over proposed legislation.

Diamond said he’s making an initial investment of $25,000 of his own money to launch a new nonprofit, Walk a Mile in Their Shoes. The group plans to travel throughout the state to hold solutions-based forums in the community.

Related Headlines


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.