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Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bipartisan call to model child welfare oversight in Maine after New Hampshire
The failings of the Office of Child and Family Services, a division of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, was a key focus of the Legislature last session. (Photo by Getty Images) A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to change oversight of child welfare in Maine to mirror the approach taken by its neighboring state. Assistant House Majority Leader Lori Gramlich (D-Old Orchard Beach) said she modeled her bill after the New Hampshire Office of the Child Advocate. LD 1893, which has two Republican and seven Democrat cosponsors, would transfer Maine's existing child welfare ombudsman into a new, independent agency with expanding responsibilities to advocate for Maine children. The proposed Office of Child Advocate would have the authority to receive complaints, access information, investigate, make public reports and advise the executive and legislative branches on how best to provide services to the state's youth. 'This bill builds a foundation for meaningful oversight and reform while ensuring children's voices and interests remain at the forefront,' Gramlich told the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee during a public hearing Friday morning. After renewed scrutiny in recent years, there have been multiple proposals from lawmakers and agency leadership to improve the state's embattled child welfare system. Last year, frontline workers came forward with accounts of onerous workloads that culminated in December with a letter of no confidence in the agency's leadership. The proposed restructuring comes after the committee backed a proposal to update the state's definition of child abuse and neglect that legal experts have argued is easy to conflate with poverty. Christine Alberi, the state's current child welfare ombudsman, supports the bill to transition her position into an Office of Child Advocate because it preserves the work her office is already doing while adding 'necessary functions.' For example, the new office would allow for juvenile justice investigations and access to facilities such as Long Creek Youth Development Center, the South Portland-based youth correctional facility. However, Alberi said that adequate funding would be crucial to the office's success. During the hearing, she said it wasn't clear where those resources would come from, since the ombudsman office has struggled with a lack of funding for staff since 2012. The current child welfare ombudsman program in Maine operates as a nonprofit that assists and investigates complaints against how child protective services cases are handled. It submits an annual report that includes an analysis of case specific reviews and other details about its interaction with the Office of Child and Family Services. Having served as New Hampshire's first child advocate, Moira O'Neill said she believes Maine could have avoided a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice over the state's children's behavioral health services had there been a proactive resource checking on the children in the care of the Department of Corrections. The suit was settled last November. O'Neill, who helped craft the model in New Hampshire before stepping down in 2021, supported Maine adopting that structure. She said Maine's current ombudsman office leaves many children, especially those in the juvenile justice system, without an ally. Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire have expressed interest in cutting the Office of Child Advocate when looking for ways to trim the state budget. Gramlich said the Office of the Attorney General suggested modest amendments to the bill that she is happy to work with the committee to incorporate. The Department of Health and Human Services, which houses the state's child welfare agency, spoke neither for nor against the bill. Director of Government Relations Abby Stivers said the department would like more time to review the proposal, but cautioned that the new framework being proposed likely requires more consideration than the department can give it in the remaining time for this legislative session. Stivers said the authority granted to the child advocate in this legislation could be wide reaching and questioned whether it is necessary given the multiple forms of oversight that already exist for child welfare services. The agency is subject to federal oversight, multiple citizen review panels and was subject to extensive investigative work from the Legislature's Government Oversight Committee last session. However, Sen. Joe Baldacci (D-Penobscot) reintroduced a bill he brought forth last session to create an Office of the Inspector General of Child Protection. 'The problems with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services are going to require far more than cosmetic surgery being suggested by some,' he told the committee when introducing LD 770. An inspector general at the state level would send a 'clear and articulate message' that the accountability and transparency of Maine's child welfare system needs to be substantially changed, Baldacci said. He referenced a 2024 report from the federal watchdog that indicated Maine struggled to comply with best practices in the vast majority of abuse and neglect cases. Under this proposal, the inspector general would be appointed by the governor to serve a five year term, with the potential for reappointment. It would also take on matters related to juvenile justice and have subpoena powers. No one from the public testified on the bill. Bobbi Johnson, director of the Office of Child and Family Services, provided written testimony opposing the legislation. She wrote that it isn't clear what benefit the role would offer to the 'robust and comprehensive oversight of child welfare that already exists.' The proposal last session ultimately died after it was not endorsed by the Health and Human Services Committee. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Child welfare director addresses late payments to child care providers
Child care worker Marci Then helps her daughter, Mila, 4, put away toys to get ready for circle time at the Little Learners Academy in Smithfield, R.I. (Photo by Elaine S. Povich/Stateline) Maine helps cover the cost of child care for children who are in the state's foster care system; however, there have been recent reports of untimely payments. While the majority of child care providers are being paid on time, there is a subset who are experiencing delays, said Office of Child and Family Services Director Bobbi Johnson. She shared a breakdown of how that payment system works and what could be causing those delays with the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee Wednesday. Last month, lawmakers asked the Government Oversight Committee to investigate late child care reimbursement payments from the Department of Health and Human Services, which houses the child welfare agency. Three Republican senators who serve on the accountability committee asked for a deeper look at how the department handles the payments after hearing from providers who have waited on reimbursements. The office spends about $6 million annually using state general funds to cover the cost of child care for children in custody, Johnson said. In general, the state pays market rate for child care, she said, but there are instances where it pays more, such as for children with complex behavioral or medical needs or living in areas with limited child care options. More than half of the 841 children in state custody who are 4 years old or younger need child care services. And as children get older, the need for those services decreases, Johnson explained. Of the nearly 800 child care facilities in the state, just over a quarter of them are currently caring for children who are in state custody. There are also more than 650 registered providers operating in private homes throughout the state, and about 90 of them are caring for children in state custody, according to data Johnson shared with the committee. When a provider is caring for a child in state custody, they invoice the Office of Child and Family Services, rather than the resource family caring for that child. Johnson outlined a few points in that process where technical snags can cause payment delays. These include the initial process of setting up providers as vendors in the payment system; providers sending an invoice by mail, fax or some other method outside of the dedicated email inbox established by the state office; or when invoices are submitted at different time intervals, which can affect the timeliness of payments. Johnson also acknowledged that staff turnover at the department has contributed to some of the slow down. Although the hold up isn't affecting all child care providers who work with the state, Johnson said the agency has been taking steps to improve this aspect of the child welfare system. Access to child care can be a key factor in being able to place a child with a foster family, Johnson explained. Johnson also said the agency piloted a staff position dedicated to child care invoices who also helped families identify providers and other resources. The temporary position expired, but Johnson said it was helpful to have a centralized approach but said if that position were made permanent, the agency would likely need two to cover the entire state. There have also been efforts to improve the processing of vendors, including the addition of two contracted workers to manage those forms. This allows those individuals to build expertise on the process and navigate any issues, rather than requiring caseworkers to manage that work, Johnson said. In addition to managing child care for children in state custody, the Office of Child and Family Services also oversees the Child Care Affordability Program, which uses federal and state funds to help eligible families pay for child care. Currently, those programs are handled separately, but Johnson said there is discussion about putting them in the same automated system to better manage and streamline child care services. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
