The high-profile deaths of two Maine children nearly two years ago has raised the collective awareness around Maine's child welfare system. Even as the court cases of their guardians have played out in the media, it is critical to remember that these deaths were due to systemic failures that need to be addressed in order to ensure all children are safe and in a permanent home with a forever family.
In response, Maine's Office of Child and Family Services has gone through several independent and internal reviews, with resulting reform priorities. Additionally, the legislature has taken up bills aimed at investments and improvements to the child protective system, with the goal of assessing, reforming, and strengthening this system that is vital to the well-being of Maine's most vulnerable children and families. Office of Child and Family Services Updates and Priority Reforms
Over the past year, the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) has seen an increase in the number of children in care, for a variety of reasons. As we have seen in other states and in Maine's own history, it is typical after high profile cases of child abuse for there to a responsive uptick in the number of cases of abuse or neglect reported. There is then a corresponding increase in the number of children being removed from the home.
In March of 2018, OCFS issued guidance to Alternative Response Program(ARP) providers, who had been contracted to provide assistance in connecting assessed families to services. They are now required to report back to the Department when a family does not complete these services. This has resulted in additional assessments, some of which resulted in removal of a child from the home. The opioid crisis
in Maine has also been a contributing factor. In 2018, 55% of cases where children were taken into custody involved substance use as a risk factor. This trend is being felt nationally as well. A recent report, entitled The Ripple Effect
, produced by United Hospital Fund (UHF) and Boston Consulting Group, outlines the impact of the opioid crisis nationally and offers priority strategies that can help support children affected. To address the increase in the number of reports and assessments, since last October, OCFS has added more than 100 new positions, primarily in child welfare. This has stabilized the caseload, but not reduced it overall. Given that, Governor Mills included an additional 62 new child welfare staff positions at OCFS in her budget proposal. She also signed LD 821
into law, requiring the Department to create caseload standards for child protective caseworkers, to ensure they have the appropriate time for assessments and case management, as well as to prevent caseworker burnout and turnover.
With the number of children coming into state care without sufficient alternative placements, there is a continued focus on recruiting foster and adoptive families, and on providing support to current adoptive families. Any interested families can visit A Family for ME
's website for more information. Over the last few months (May 2019), OCFS has also undertaken a number of initiatives to improve the experience of becoming and being a foster parent in Maine, including supporting LD 1526
, which removes the requirement of a Fire Marshal's inspection to issue a foster home license and instead gives the Department authority to conduct health and safety inspections. This was passed in the last legislative session, and in conjunction with the Department's commitment to increasing the percentage of homes licensed within 120 days by adding additional staff, the process for becoming a licensed foster home should be much improved. Each child in custody represents a family in need of services and support to ensure safety and well-being. When we prevent the circumstances that necessitate removal, in a manner that ensures long-term safety and well-being, we minimize the trauma experienced by children, and strengthen families and communities.
In July 2019, Maine's Office of Child and Family Services partnered with Casey Family Programs to map out and evaluate the effectiveness of major initiatives and strategies
currently underway in Maine. As a result of this report
, the Office of Child and Family Services streamlined and prioritized strategies as shown in this strategic framework.
In an effort to provide more data and transparency to stakeholder and the public on the child welfare system in Maine, in September 2019, OCFS unveiled a new Key Measures Child Welfare Dashboard.
These regularly updated measures focus on key outcomes and indicators for children who come into contact with the child protective system. By tracking and providing this data, we can better assess strengths and challenges in the system, and ensure we are making adjustments to ensure children and families are strengthened through their contact with the system.
On October 1, 2019, OCFS released a report on child welfare workload
to the Health and Human Services and Government Oversight Committees of the Legislature. While the Department has been working to study the specific workload and caseload of Child Welfare staff, the development of this report was required by the passage of LD 821 in the last legislative session. This is a first version, with the expectation that through additional and ongoing analysis, these measures might change. Families First Prevention Services Act
Children involved in the child welfare system do best in families, where they can live in a safe, stable, happy and healthy environment that supports their growth and well-being. Maine is currently working with government, stakeholders, and community members to improve the child welfare system to create better outcomes for children and families. Maine plans to leverage those efforts with funds through the recently passed federal Family First Prevention Services Act (Family First). What is Family First?
Family First was adopted in February 2018 and provides states federal funds in new and expanded ways, including promoting the use of trauma-informed, evidence-based interventions and services to prevent the need for foster care placements. This strengthens the ability of states to promote prevention and early intervention services, acknowledging that children succeed in safe and stable families with parents who are able to care for them and who have access to strong community supports.
The new law realigns federal funding and recognizes that growing up in a home with a family is essential for all kids, especially those who have experienced abuse or neglect. It also recognizes that too many children are unnecessarily separated from parents who could provide safe and loving care if given access to needed mental health services, substance abuse treatment, or strengthened parenting skills. What is Maine doing to implement Family First?
Like many other states, Maine is just beginning the planning process. The state is engaging the entire community in planning and gathering ongoing feedback on improving Maine's prevention services and practice models to better support children and families. In September 2019, The Department convened a kickoff event to start the process for designing Maine's implementation plan. For more details, you can view that presentation here. What's Next?
None of these efforts, of course, will entirely eliminate child abuse and neglect. Making systems changes that recognize the need to support families in crisis in order to prevent children being removed from their families and homes - and the trauma that creates for them - is critical. Intervening and providing supports that meaningfully assist parents in need - whether they are living in poverty, experiencing domestic violence, or struggling with substance use disorder - provides an opportunity to reduce the number of children needing to come into care. We also must simultaneously support foster and adoptive families, acknowledging that some children will need alternative placements, and deserve the best chance to realize permanency and a forever family outside their biological families.
Maine is taking important and meaningful steps to strengthen a system that has not met the needs of the children and families whose lives have depended on its support. But it will take a long-term, sustained, and systemic effort- by legislators and administrators, caseworkers, families, and public support - to meaningfully reform the child welfare system so that it truly provides the support to children and families it promises, to strive to ensure that whenever safely possible, children and families can remain intact, and thrive. *Information in this post was compiled in part from System Improvement Updates, presentations, and correspondence from the Office of Child and Family Services.
In an effort to provide more data and transparency to stakeholder and the public on the child welfare system in Maine, in September 2019, OCFS unveiled a new Key Measures Child Welfare Dashboard.
These regularly updated measures focus on key outcomes and indicators for children who come into contact with the child protective system. By tracking and providing this data, we can better assess strengths and challenges in the system, and ensure we are making adjustments to ensure children and families are strengthened through their contact with the system.
On October 1, 2019, OCFS released a report on child welfare workload
to the Health and Human Services and Government Oversight Committees of the Legislature. While the Department has been working to study the specific workload and caseload of Child Welfare staff, the development of this report was required by the passage of LD 821 in the last legislative session. This is a first version, with the expectation that through additional and ongoing analysis, these measures might change. Families First Prevention Services Act
Children involved in the child welfare system do best in families, where they can live in a safe, stable, happy and healthy environment that supports their growth and well-being. Maine is currently working with government, stakeholders, and community members to improve the child welfare system to create better outcomes for children and families. Maine plans to leverage those efforts with funds through the recently passed federal Family First Prevention Services Act (Family First). What is Family First?
Family First was adopted in February 2018 and provides states federal funds in new and expanded ways, including promoting the use of trauma-informed, evidence-based interventions and services to prevent the need for foster care placements. This strengthens the ability of states to promote prevention and early intervention services, acknowledging that children succeed in safe and stable families with parents who are able to care for them and who have access to strong community supports.
The new law realigns federal funding and recognizes that growing up in a home with a family is essential for all kids, especially those who have experienced abuse or neglect. It also recognizes that too many children are unnecessarily separated from parents who could provide safe and loving care if given access to needed mental health services, substance abuse treatment, or strengthened parenting skills. What is Maine doing to implement Family First?
Like many other states, Maine is just beginning the planning process. The state is engaging the entire community in planning and gathering ongoing feedback on improving Maine's prevention services and practice models to better support children and families. In September 2019, The Department convened a kickoff event to start the process for designing Maine's implementation plan. For more details, you can view that presentation here. What's Next?
None of these efforts, of course, will entirely eliminate child abuse and neglect. Making systems changes that recognize the need to support families in crisis in order to prevent children being removed from their families and homes - and the trauma that creates for them - is critical. Intervening and providing supports that meaningfully assist parents in need - whether they are living in poverty, experiencing domestic violence, or struggling with substance use disorder - provides an opportunity to reduce the number of children needing to come into care. We also must simultaneously support foster and adoptive families, acknowledging that some children will need alternative placements, and deserve the best chance to realize permanency and a forever family outside their biological families.
Maine is taking important and meaningful steps to strengthen a system that has not met the needs of the children and families whose lives have depended on its support. But it will take a long-term, sustained, and systemic effort- by legislators and administrators, caseworkers, families, and public support - to meaningfully reform the child welfare system so that it truly provides the support to children and families it promises, to strive to ensure that whenever safely possible, children and families can remain intact, and thrive. *Information in this post was compiled in part from System Improvement Updates, presentations, and correspondence from the Office of Child and Family Services.