Bobbi Johnson, left, then-acting director of the Office of Children and Family Services, looks to Jeanne Lambrew, the former commissioner of Maine DHHS, during testimony in front of the Government Oversight Committee in December 2023. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

Nearly 150 employees in Maine’s Office of Child and Family Services have signed a letter of no confidence in Director Bobbi Johnson and are calling on Gov. Janet Mills to replace her immediately.

In response, Mills and Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Sara Gagne-Holmes each issued statements supporting Johnson and criticizing the union that represents those workers.

The latest disagreement between child protection caseworkers and administrators comes just weeks before the next Legislature convenes. It could foreshadow additional attempts to overhaul the agency tasked with protecting the state’s most vulnerable children, which has been under scrutiny for many years.

In the letter of no confidence, which was released Thursday by the state employees’ labor union, workers accused Johnson of failing to acknowledge or address critical safety issues relating to using hotels to temporarily house children in state custody. The 145 workers who signed the letter represent about 25% of union workers with the agency or 19% of all staff.

“Director Bobbi Johnson has actively demonstrated that she is unable to ensure the well-being and safety of children and OCFS staff by refusing to address the housing of children in hotels,” the workers wrote. “First and foremost, holding children in hotels or emergency rooms only increases the trauma for children. The director’s inaction in finding an alternate to the warehousing of children in hotels or emergency rooms lends to the perception by many front-line workers that those in Central Office are reinforcing the misconception that hotels and emergency rooms are the only options for housing children.”

Johnson took over as agency director in January, just months after former director Todd Landry resigned amid growing criticism. She has been a Department of Health and Human Services employee for 28 years.

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Mills, through her spokesman Ben Goodman, said she has full confidence in Johnson as someone who “cares deeply about children and her employees.”

“The allegations and personal attacks against Director Johnson are meritless and this extreme approach by the union is not productive, nor does it serve the long-term shared goal of trying to reduce the use of hotels,” Goodman said in an email. “The governor knows Director Johnson is committed to working collaboratively to address this issue.”

Gagne-Holmes also defended Johnson.

“Since becoming director of the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS), Director Johnson has visited every district across the state at least three times, listening to front-line staff and considering the concerns raised — including those in the (union) letter,” the commissioner said in a prepared statement. “We recognize no single measure can solve every challenge in a system this complex, but the director’s commitment to listening, adapting and supporting staff is unwavering. Director Johnson has my full support, and I remain confident in her compassionate, responsive and effective leadership.”

Workers said they only decided to send the letter of no confidence after trying for months to get Johnson to hear their concerns.

When a caseworker petitions to remove a child from a home because of suspected abuse or neglect, the child is then placed in a foster home or with an extended family member. But that doesn’t always happen immediately, and in the meantime, they often stay in hotels that must be staffed by caseworkers 24 hours a day. That means workers are responsible for providing meals, medications, transportation to and from school and other activities, any medical appointments and more.

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In the letter, workers said staff members have been assaulted by aggressive children and have been forced to cover multiple long shifts back-to-back. Sometimes, it can take weeks to find a placement, especially if the child has behavioral health needs, said Robin Upton-Sukeforth, a union representative for caseworkers.

Concerns about using hotels to house children have long been raised among workers, but the problem has become more acute, Upton-Sukeforth said. There are more children in state custody now than at any point over the last two decades — 2,507 as of September , according to state data, up from 1,724 in July 2018.

“All of the above concerns have been raised in meetings with Director Johnson and the significance of these concerns have been dismissed as a failure on the front-line staff to adapt to the demands of the work,” the letter states. “Director Johnson consistently demonstrates a blatant failure to listen to the concerns of the front-line OCFS staff prior to or even post-implementation of policies and procedures, jeopardizing Maine’s vulnerable citizens and the OCFS staff who serve them.”

In addition to signing a letter of no confidence, the Maine Service Employees Association union filed a workplace complaint with the Maine Department of Labor over requiring workers to stay overnight in hotels with minors in state custody.

Maine’s Office of Child and Family Services has been investigated numerous times over the years by lawmakers and by federal and state auditors, often in response to high-profile child deaths.

Despite improvements in training for staff and increases in worker salaries to curb high burnout and turnover, problems have persisted.

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Just last month, federal auditors released a report that found Maine’s child protection officials failed to complete all of the requirements in 94% of abuse or neglect investigations between October 2021 and September 2022. The most common failures were not completing safety assessments within 72 hours, not completing investigations within 35 days, and not notifying parents or caregivers of a finding within 10 days.

Johnson said at the time that it had been two full years since the end of the audit period and many of the problems cited have been remedied or are in the process of being addressed.

Sen. Joe Baldacci, D-Bangor, who served last session as chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, said he expects more robust debate about child protection when the next Legislature convenes in January.

“As far as Bobbi Johnson is concerned, the complaints are similar to what we’ve heard before under other directors, so I think it’s premature to give her a no-confidence vote. She needs more than 11 months,” Baldacci said. “But the governor has to take a personal involvement in this. She can’t just say these are unfair attacks.”

Sen. Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, said the concerns raised in the employees’ letter were similar to what he heard from workers during Government Oversight Committee meetings over the last couple of years.

“It’s very discouraging,” he said. “Something has to be done different.”

Timberlake said he plans to bring back a bill that would separate the Office of Child and Family Services from DHHS, something that failed last session.

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