Supporting parents to prevent maltreatment is key to decreasing the need for child protective services in Maine.
child abuse
Posted inLocal & State, News
Child welfare ombudsman’s report lays out familiar problems, challenges facing front-line workers
Most of the findings in Christine Alberi’s report, formally submitted this week, have been the subject of debate among policymakers for months.
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Posted inEditorials, Opinion
Our View: Maine’s child welfare system needs better oversight
Criminal prosecutions of abusive caregivers don’t shed enough light on the agency charged with protecting children.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Maine’s child welfare ombudsman tells lawmakers: ‘We need to do something different’
Christine Alberi, the independent watchdog over the Office of Child and Family Services, told lawmakers Wednesday that ‘deep-seated problems’ persist even as investigations continue into the state agency responsible for child welfare.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: We know what works to keep Maine kids safe. Now it’s time to act.
‘Kinship care,’ increasing the availability of treatment foster homes and intervening with high-risk families succeeded before – and can again.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
State outlines steps to improve its child protection system
The Department of Health and Human Services says it is responding to the recommendations of Casey Family Programs, a national nonprofit that reviewed practices after a series of children’s deaths this summer.
Posted inMaine Voices, Op-Eds, Opinion
Maine Voices: Two actions could save our children’s lives – now
Starting with kids 2 and under, all DHHS referrals should get an in-home assessment, and all open cases should receive a ‘desktop’ audit.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Federal government approves Maine’s ‘Family First’ child welfare reforms
The state sought approval of its plan at a time when it is implementing numerous child welfare reforms in response to multiple high-profile abuse deaths.
Posted inLocal & State, Maine Crime, News
State had prior involvement in most child homicide cases in Maine
A Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram analysis of newly released details going back 14 years shows DHHS had contact with most of those families before the children were killed.
Posted inMaine Voices
Maine Voices: Maine’s child welfare problems can be solved
But it’s important that policy-makers learn the right message from recent tragedies.