Health, Safety, and Well-Being

November 3, 2023 - Child welfare continues to appear in headlines as policymakers and state leaders react to the challenges faced by our state’s child welfare system. Information about the efficacy of the child welfare agency is important and deserves routine discussion and thoughtful analysis. However, our focus and attention cannot stop there. Why are so many families struggling? We must find ways to work together to help parents and caregivers provide safety and stability for their children.

May 9, 2023 - There’s a new plan at the State House designed to protect vulnerable Mainers. It comes from the Department of Health and Human Services just weeks after a study found Maine has the highest rate of abuse and neglect in the country, more than twice the national average. "The vision established in this plan is that Maine will be a place where all families live in supportive communities and can get the help they need when they need it,” Melissa Hackett of the Maine Children’s Alliance said.

February 15, 2023 - Governor Janet Mills has announced new initiatives in an effort to keep kids safe from abuse, neglect, drug overdoses and death.

December 16, 2022 - The Maine Child Welfare Action Network (MCWAN) is a group of organizations and individuals in Maine working together to align, strengthen, and sustain efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of all Maine children, youth, and families. In January 2022, MCWAN released a Framework for Child Welfare Reform that established core issue areas and challenges, and made priority action recommendations supported by data and research. The 2023 Strategic Child Welfare System Priorities build upon that framework with updated data and context.

December 8, 2022 - The Maine Child Welfare Action Network (MCWAN) has engaged parent experts to establish a new initiative for the network, the Center for Parent Leadership and Advocacy in Child Welfare (CPLA). The goal of the CPLA is to develop a group of parent advocates within MCWAN who have lived experience with child protection and other family serving systems, and the skills to use their experiences to inform policy and affect practice change.

March 4, 2022 - In order to develop and implement effective system improvement efforts, it is essential to consider and incorporate all types of high quality practices and services into systems of care for children, youth, and families.

January 19, 2022 - Maine has an obligation and an opportunity right now to engage in a transformation of the child welfare system. Reforms cannot be limited to the state child welfare agency. Our state can prevent future tragedies by building a child well-being and family strengthening system that reduces the strain on the child protective system.

July 23, 2021 - The COVID-19 pandemic has led to another public health crisis in Maine: a rising number of child deaths from abuse and neglect. Policymakers and advocates are focusing on improvements to the child protective agency, but this is only part of the picture. Maine’s child protective services are being overwhelmed by maltreatment reports. The majority of these children are experiencing neglect, not physical abuse. There is substantial evidence that investment in services to stabilize families can prevent abuse and neglect and decrease the need for child protective intervention

March 8, 2021 - The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is a critical program with a long history of bipartisan support and a track record of success that provides quality, affordable health care coverage to children from low income households, who do not meet the eligibility requirements for Medicaid. CHIP ensures these Maine kids can access the health care they need to stay on track to become healthy, successful adults.

June 16, 2020 - To become successful adults, young peopleneed basic, essential supports like nurturing relationships with caring adults, positive educational environments, and health care, including mental and behavioral health services. When young people have these positive experiences early in life, it shapes their brain development toward good decision-making and impulse control. Yet many young people have Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) that do not support their positive development.

March 20, 2020 - To understand the changes and identify the drivers of the changes in IMR in Maine over the past two decades, a group of partners representing the non-profit, health care, public health and state sectors designed and implemented the Maine Infant Mortality Project. The goals of this one-year project were to identify the drivers of infant mortality (IM) in the state using quantitative and qualitative data and develop recommendations to reduce IM that reflect the populations, cultures and environment of Maine.

February 29, 2020 - The State of Maine is at an important crossroads in its juvenile justice system, with an exciting window of opportunity. The problems in the system have been well-known for many years, and significant progress has been made in several areas. But over-incarceration continues and years of under-investment in behavioral health and other services has left the state without adequate programs and services to meet the needs of young people.

January 30, 2020 - For 25 years, MCA has promoted sound policies and best practices to make sure all Maine children have the resources and opportunity to reach their full potential from birth to adulthood. Our priority issue areas include: Early Care and Education; Health, Safety & Well-being; and Family Economic & Food Security.

January 20, 2020 - The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is a critical program with a long history of bipartisan support and a track record of success that provides quality, affordable health care coverage to children from low-income households, who don’t meet the eligibility requirements for Medicaid. CHIP ensures these Maine kids can access the health care they need to stay on track to become healthy, successful adults.

January 16, 2020 - This report is in response to RESOLVE Chapter 66, L.D. 1635, 129th Maine State Legislature, Resolve, To Improve Access to Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment Services for Children from Birth to 8 Years of Age. This report provides information on the Early, Periodic, Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit and programs providing early intervention and developmental screening services in the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), including work done under the Office of MaineCare Services (OMS), at the Maine CDC under the Maternal Child Block Grant, Public Health Nursing (PHN), Maine Families Home Visiting, and Women and Infants Program (WIC), and the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS). The report also includes information on Child Find under the Department of Education and the early intervention system, including Child Development Services (CDS), Early Head Start, and Head Start.

October 15, 2019 - The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF) is an independent, nonpartisan policy and research center founded in 2005 with a mission to support access to high-quality, comprehensive and affordable health coverage for all of America’s children and families.

October 15, 2019 - The Annie E. Casey Foundation is devoted to developing a brighter future for millions of children at risk of poor educational, economic, social and health outcomes.

January 8, 2019 - Based on our experiences and knowledge of available research and promising practices, we offer the following five priority reform recommendations for making both immediate and long-term improvements to the systems designed to protect children and strengthen families.