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Maine Children's Alliance Newsletter 04/20/06










13th annual Champions for Children Celebration on April 24



THE HONORABLE GEORGE MITCHELL TO BE KEYNOTE SPEAKER AND HONORED FOR HIS EFFORTS TO ENSURE ALL KIDS CAN SUCCEED

Senator Mitchell will be the keynote speaker at the 13th annual Champions for Children Celebration in honor of the decades of work he has done that has benefited children and families. The Mitchell Institute demonstrates one example of Senator Mitchell's extraordinary level of commitment to children. Each year, a Mitchell scholarship is awarded to a graduating senior from every public high school in Maine. Since 1995, the Mitchell Institute has awarded nearly $4.3 million in financial assistance to more than 1,130 Maine students. The Institute also offers support to students through mentoring opportunities, community service projects, career coaching, social and professional experiences and the Mitchell Institute Leadership Experience. Finally, the Institute conducts research for the betterment of its own work, and to inform policymakers including the Governor, the Legislature and the State Board of Education.

Senator Mitchell worked tirelessly for peace in Ireland, helping to establish an environment in which children and their families could begin to enjoy physical and economic security. He served as chairman of the Peace Negotiations in Northern Ireland and, under his leadership, the governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom and the political parties of Northern Ireland agreed to the historic Good Friday peace accord.

He has also worked for peace in the Middle East. At the request of President Clinton, Prime Minister Barak, and Chairman Arafat, Senator Mitchell served as chairman of an International Fact Finding Committee on violence in the Middle East. The committee's recommendation, widely known as The Mitchell Report, was endorsed by the Bush administration, the European Union, and by many other governments.

We are pleased to honor Senator Mitchell as a Champion for Children at our annual celebration. The event, which recognizes and salutes the outstanding work that is performed on behalf of children, will be held on April 24, 2006 at the Senator Inn in Augusta. The evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a reception with Senator Mitchell, to be followed by the program at 6:00 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 p.m.

To register on line click here


The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights ("TABOR")



Due to the late submission of some signatures in support of the TABOR citizens' initiative to the Secretary of State's office, we are uncertain if the initiative will be on the November ballot. The decision regarding the allowability of those signatures is presently under appeal. Regardless of the outcome of that appeal, we believe that this issue will eventually be placed before the voters and is a serious threat to services for children and families. There is significant mistrust of our government to provide an effective or responsive, and enough frustration with increasing costs of fuel and health care, to result in tax-reducing initiatives in some form. It is essential to continue to learn about Maine's tax structure, and to talk to our legislative representatives and our neighbors about tax reform. In the coming months, we will send information about TABOR and alternative solutions that build on work that has already begun.

The Maine Children's Alliance is a member of the Taxpayer for a Fair Budget Coalition and supports the Coalition's principles for tax reform. These include the following criteria for tax reform:
1. Tax reform should benefit the majority of Maine taxpayers
2. Focus reform on those who pay the highest proportion of their income in taxes
3. Provide necessary revenues to invest in Maine's commitment to essential education, health, safety and quality of life services
4. Export a greater share of taxes to non-residents
5. Restore balance between big business corporations and small business and individual taxpayers




Legislative update


THE 2006 SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET BECOMES LAW

The Supplemental State Budget was recently passed with bi-partisan support. Here are some of the highlights:

Education

  • $42 million more for General Purpose Aid to Education, bringing the State's commitment to 50 percent;

  • $500,000 for the Early College Initiative, which allows high school students to take college courses early;

  • $200,000 for the College Transitions program, which pays for adult education classes to assist adults who are returning to college;

  • Additional expenditures for university research and development and an additional tax deduction for interest paid on student loans.

  • Allocation of $500,000 each to funds aimed at encouraging efficiencies by local and regional governments, and school districts;


State's savings accounts

  • The budget transfers $29 million of surplus to the Budget Stabilization Fund.


Health

  • Additional support for the Tobacco Help Line to help people quit cigarettes and save costs to Maine's health care system, $350,000;

  • Restores $4.6 million to the Fund for a Healthy Maine, which invests in smoking prevention and cessation efforts, prenatal and young children's care, dental and health care for low-income people, and other health care programs



CHILDREN'S REFORM STEERING COMMITTEE

The Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services and the Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs did not accept many of the Governor's Budget recommendations for reductions in children's mental health. Other recommendations in child welfare services were approved with the exception of cuts in foster care payments. As a result, a "Steering Committee on Children's Reform" was formed to consider those budget items rejected by the committees of jurisdiction.

The report of that committee (a document of more than 200 pages) was presented to the Health and Human Services Committee. It opposes any cuts in treatment foster care rates and makes recommendations on the substantive public policy questions included in the Governor's budget. With the current budget situation it is unlikely that more reductions will be recommended.

MANAGED CARE

A more serious threat to services as they are currently provided was the adoption of a budget recommendation for the transfer of all children's child welfare and behavioral health services into managed care. Adult mental health services would also be included. A cut of $10.4 million for both adult and children's services was made based on estimates savings from switching to a managed care system. The previously approved plan calls for the establishment of a managed care system for children's services by July 1, 2006.

The plan includes:
1. Prior authorization of all Medicaid funded services
2. Utilization review of all Medicaid funded services
3. Capitated rates for some services not yet determined

The most difficult decision appears to have been whether or not child welfare services, including out of home services, would become part of managed care. That decision was made and child welfare services are included.

The public response was quick and very negative. Providers in particular said the state is not ready and argued for a more methodical and inclusive approach.

A "Stakeholders Group on Managed Care" was formed. That group raised serious question about the timeline and work to be done. Ultimately, DHHS and the Legislature agreed. The Department is now contracting with Beacon Health Systems to put in place an "Administrative Services Organization" (ASO). There will be no change in services or rates of pay prior to establishment of a Managed Care Organization. The ASO will set the stage for a managed care agency to be hired by Jan. 1, 2007.

The Department also agreed with providers that a readiness survey must be done. Using New Mexico as a model, a survey to determine what would be necessary for providers to be ready. DHHS also agreed to extend participation of the Stakeholders group through the ASO process.

Child welfare placements were slated to go to the MCO. That will not happen now. Caseworkers will continue to manage thus placements, but utilization review will be in place.

Beacon Health Care Systems has assured the Department that the required savings of $10.4 million can be realized easily in the second half of FY 2007 utilizing prior authorization and utilization review alone.

The adult system is further along in its development of a managed care system. Beacon, a managed care company from Massachusetts, has the contract to do that work in collaboration with the staff of the Department of Health and Human Services. . The same is planned for children's services. Beacon has been chosen as the provider based on a sole source contract.

In summary, the Department has shown itself to be willing to compromise and involve stakeholders through a structured process. The Department also made changes in its plan reflecting agreement that implementation
by July 1, 2006 was not possible.

OTHER LEGISLATION

LD 1772, AN ACT TO IMPROVE EARLY CHILDHOOD SPECIAL EDUCATION
This bill intended to provide a seamless special education program for those in need from age 3 to age 20. A public instrumentality was created to coordinate the provision of early education during a transition period from 2006-2008. It eliminated the current form of Child Developmental Services, and empowered school districts to provide services as early childhood education, or to contract for those services. After several work sessions and responses from the Department of Education to concerned parents, the Education Committee amended the bill and voted 11-2 Ought to Pass as Amended.

The amendment, which replaces the bill, makes several changes, the most significant of which is not to empower school districts to provide the services. Instead, it establishes the 28-member Subcommittee to Study Early Childhood Special Education to study early childhood special education programs and services provided for infants and young children from birth to 8 years of age. The group will function as a subcommittee of the Task Force on Early Childhood, an initiative of the Children's Cabinet that proposes to implement a state plan for comprehensive early childhood systems.

BILLS REGARDING LIVEABLE WAGES
A number of bills presented the recommendations of the Study Commission Regarding Liveable Wages. They included:


  • Ld 2022, An Act To Implement Recommendations Of The Study Commission Regarding Liveable Wages Concerning Subsidized Child Care

  • Ld 2023, An Act To Implement Recommendations Of The Study Commission Regarding Liveable Wages Concerning The Definition Of A Liveable Wage

  • Ld 2024, An Act To Implement Recommendations Of The Study Commission Regarding Liveable Wages Concerning The State Contracting Process

  • Ld 2025, An Act To Implement Recommendations Of The Study Commission Regarding Liveable Wages Concerning The Circuit Breaker Program

  • Ld 2026, An Act To Implement Recommendations Of The Study Commission Regarding Liveable Wages Concerning Conformity With Federal Tax Laws

  • Ld 2027, An Act To Implement Recommendations Of The Study Commission Regarding Liveable Wages Concerning The State Earned Income Tax Credit


All of the bills but one either failed in Committee (LD 2022 in the Health and Human Services Committee, and LD 2025 in the State and Local Government Committee) or on the floor of the House or Senate. LDs 2025, 2026, and 2027, all of which were heard by the Taxation Committee, carried significant fiscal notes: $22 million, $175 million and $42 million in the General Fund, respectively, for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. The fiscal note was slightly greater for each bill in the next year of the biennium. The Maine Children's Alliance supported these bills, and testified that LD 2027, which would increase the EITC to 30% of the federal credit and make it refundable, would be particularly effective in helping to reduce poverty and hardship among families with children.

DIRIGO HEALTH AND OTHER HEALTH CARE BILLS

LD 1945, AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A HIGH-RISK HEALTH INSURANCE POOL



This bill requires the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Bureau of Insurance to apply for federal funds that Congress is offering States to create high-risk insurance pools. It repeals the requirement of guaranteed issue for individual health insurance, and enacts the Comprehensive Health Insurance Risk Pool Association Act. The bill also creates a study of a reinsurance pool for the small group market.

It is predicted that insurance costs for high-risk individuals will go up significantly. Supporters argue that, without this bill, insurance costs will increase for all. As of this writing, the bill had passed in the House, but the Senate questioned whether or not the bill was properly before it, and has sent the bill back to the House in non-concurrence.

LD 1935, AN ACT TO PROTECT HEALTH INSURANCE CUSTOMERS



This bill prohibits insurance carriers from including the costs of the savings offset payment used to support the Dirigo Health Program in health insurance premium rates. It has not been reported out of committee because of negotiations that were begun to try to resolve the issue of funding the Dirigo Health Program. The assumption of the Program is that rising health costs can be contained through a variety of means, and that the costs savings will be used as a way to reduce premiums. There is a range of opinions regarding the identity and value of the savings.

LD 1845, AN ACT TO INCREASE ACCESS TO HEALTH INSURANCE PRODUCTS



LD 1845 sets the stage for the Dirigo Health Agency board to cover DirigoChoice as a self-insured group, rather than contracting with a private insurance company to provide the coverage as it does now.
Dirigo's current contract with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine will expire on Dec. 31, 2006.

The Committee has submitted two reports, the majority Ought to Pass as amended by Committee Amendment A, the minority Ought to Pass as amended by Committee Amendment B.

The Maine Children's Alliance supports the wisdom of the legislature and the needs of the citizens for affordable, quality health care. We do not assume that government regulation is always good, but believe that this plan should continue to be supported. We urge the legislature to consider the needs of their constituents and to lead in this debate regarding solutions to the health care needs of Maine citizens. The solution should include health care that is well-coordinated and comprehensive, efficiently and effectively provided, of high quality and affordable. The legislature, and these concepts, should drive the debate.

Links to legislation and legislators:


New Board members at the Maine Children's Alliance



In our last newsletter, we included the biography of Linda McGill. Shawn Yardley's biography is included in this newsletter; we will introduce Chris Stenberg and Lee Umphrey in subsequent newsletters.

C. Shawn Yardley, Bangor, Maine

Shawn Yardley is the Director of the City of Bangor's Department of Health and Welfare overseeing general assistance, public health nursing, a dental clinic, Park Woods, a 50+ unit transitional housing project, a STD clinic and the WIC nutrition program. He has over sixteen years of progressive management experience with the Department of Human Services, including fifteen years as a Faculty Associate in the Social Work Department at the University of Maine. Shawn's extensive community and legislative involvement has been beneficial to his community and to children and youth. He has been a featured speaker at numerous seminars for legal, medical, social service, and educational personnel and has received an M.S. in Business from Husson College and a B.A. in Sociology/Social Welfare from the University of Maine. Shawn has proven leadership, public speaking, and team building abilities.



April is child abuse prevention month



April is Child Abuse Prevention Month across the nation. It is a time to focus on ways not only to protect children from neglect and abuse but to prevent abuse from ever occurring.

Focusing on prevention makes a lot of sense for our children, our communities and our state. We want to make sure kids who are harmed are brought to safety, but avoiding harm is an even more useful goal.


The story of the Blue Ribbon that has come to be a symbol to focus on preventing child abuse and neglect is a prime example of how individuals can make a difference for children.

The Blue Ribbon Child Abuse Prevention Campaign had its origin following the death of a very young child. In the spring of 1989, Bonnie Finney, a Virginia grandmother, received the devastating news that her beloved grandson had died of injuries inflicted by his parents Bonnie Finney tied a blue ribbon to the antenna of her van as a way to remember the bruised and battered body of her grandson and to alert her community to the tragedy of child abuse. She spoke to anyone who would listen and gave others a sense of the urgency she felt as the grandmother of a victim of violent death.

Rooted in her grief and agony, Bonnie Finney's modest act has given us a symbol around which we rally for protection of our children. That symbol is powerful when it is the inspiration for action that might save a life. Among the actions we can consider:

  • Encourage community and individual involvement in recognizing and preventing family violence and child and elder abuse and neglect.

  • Educate families, children, neighbors, organizations and communities on how to prevent abuse and neglect.

  • Assist families in achieving healthy parenting practices through education and resources.

  • Empower individuals to intervene in abuse and neglect situations when appropriate.

  • Volunteer for, and contribute financially to, organizations that help families and children.

  • Invite a speaker to your organization or workplace to help educate others and spread the word about family violence, abuse and neglect and how to keep all of our family members safe.

  • Mentor a child who may be at risk of being abused or neglected.

  • Take a parenting class. Invite another parent to join you.

  • Give support to a mother, father or caregiver of an elder experiencing stress.

  • Communicate to elected officials in support of parent education, child abuse prevention, and access of quality services across the generations.



We are all responsible to act to protect and give voice to those who cannot speak for themselves. Thanks for all that you do to ensure all children have the opportunity to be safe in their homes and their communities.

Youth and public service



CONGRESSMAN TOM ALLEN TELLS US ABOUT TWO REMARKABLE MAINE TEENS

"Inspiring Young People to a Life of Public Service"
U.S. Representative Tom Allen, 1st District of Maine

How can adults help nurture civic responsibility and commitment to the common good in the next generation? The task is made more difficult today by a loss of faith in our government's competency and honesty. Even so, young people have not given up.

Recently, for example, I had two meetings in my Portland office that recharged my occasionally sagging faith in the future. The first was arranged by a 13-year-old girl from Cornish, Maine, Grace Pease, who is changing the world for the better by helping one impoverished African village and one endangered animal species at a time. The second meeting was organized by Adam Zuckerman, a Deering High School student who, appalled by what he has learned about the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, decided to do everything he can to make his government stop the massacre in that ravished land.

As part of Grace's home schooling, when she was six years old her mom told her and her sister Ruby that they could go anywhere in the world if they arranged educational, useful projects to work on there, and earned the money to pay for the trip and an equal amount for a charity in that region. So for the next 7 years, the girls raised and sold pumpkins and flowers at the Portland Farmers' Market, and spent countless hours researching and writing letters to prepare for and set up their dreams. Grace chose to go to Madagascar, an island nation off the East African coast, to work for 8 weeks on several causes.

The fruits of Grace's fundraising were used to build a new school for the local children who, until then, had no opportunity for an education. Her hard-earned money also went to the Lemur Conservation Foundation, at whose reserve she worked to protect Madagascar's many types of lemurs, an indigenous, endangered mammal. In addition, she volunteered at "her" school, a medical clinic, and a dinosaur dig. Grace and her family are now raising funds to bring two remarkable Madagascan boys to Maine to pursue their education. Albert and Pascal had graduated at their very top of their primary school class, but there is no nearby place to continue their studies. Yet, so great is their thirst for knowledge that when Grace met them, the boys were living most days in a homemade shack two days walk from their family so they could attend high school. She notes that they "fend for themselves, often picking through the dump to survive."

If Grace's focus is on individual problems and solutions, Adam has his eyes fixed on an international crisis of monumental proportions. His goal is to bring attention to the horror of Darfur, where hundreds of thousands of innocent people have already been mutilated or killed by roving bands of government-supported gangs, and to pressure American officials to take action. Among other things, Adam has spoken out at his school and synagogue, met with me and Maine's senators, participated in Colby College's symposium on Darfur, and organized a busload from Maine to join an April 30th rally in Washington, D.C. He and his fellow protesters not only want Congress and the President to act, but are asking Maine organizations to divest their Sudanese investments.

These tireless teenagers exude the spirit of public service that has survived years of public policies and cultural messages that stress a "me-first" mentality. I believe that their commitment flows from the values they have learned from others. Parents, teachers, and other adults who play an important role in the lives of young people can take heart from these success stories.


Maine Health Forum Website is Launched



Franklin Community Health Network is proud to announce the launch of a new website, the Maine Health Forum (http://www.mainehealthforum.org). The website is a public, non-partisan resource for those interested in health issues, including policy advocates, government leaders, health professionals, students, business and community leaders, health insurers, and citizens.

Highlights of the website include:

  • Statewide news and editorials on healthcare;

  • current research and reports on Maine children and families;

  • Health Reports, featuring the latest developments in children's health;

  • information on DirigoChoice and DirigoHealth;

  • the latest on MaineCare and Medicare;

  • Maine DHHS reform; and

  • upcoming health-related events in your area.





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