Congratulations to Staff Writers Scott Thistle and Kevin Miller for their persistence in getting the information about then-Gov. Paul LePage’s use of $170,000 in taxpayer money to pay for out-of-state travel for himself, his family and his staff (Feb. 17).

On the back of the Maine/New England section (Page C6) that same day is a brief wire service item that I wish had run alongside that front-page story. It reads, “Maine’s child welfare system is plagued by insufficient training and poor technology that leads to dropped and abandoned calls, according to a new report by an independent firm released this month.

“Maine must boost its training, adjust caseloads and staffing ratios and improve technology to better serve children and families, according to the report … .

“The report found that a live person answered only two-thirds of roughly 6,100 calls to the welfare hotline from January through October 2018. Roughly 20 percent of calls were abandoned over the last three months, and it was unclear how successful workers were in reaching callers who left voice mails. …

“Lawmakers, caseworkers and advocates have raised concerns over Maine’s child welfare system in the past year following the deaths of two young girls: 10-year-old Marissa Kennedy and 4-year-old Kendall Chick.”

Paul LePage and former Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew should step up. This is their responsibility. They did this. They so decimated the DHHS in order to save money that there weren’t enough people to receive calls about endangered children.

And this was only part of one year. What about the previous seven? The $170,000 could have paid for people to answer the phones, saving many Maine children from abuse, even death. For shame!

Donna Halvorsen

South Portland

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