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.  

The Maine Child Welfare Action Network is committed to working in partnership with state leaders and policymakers, working directly with those who are most impacted by the problems, developing solutions and taking action to address them. This means listening to staff in the field and families in our communities about the challenges they are facing, and doing everything we can to support them. It also means listening to parents who have successfully navigated the child protection system to identify ways we can improve help for families. 

Child protective workers and supervisors enter this difficult and complex work because they want to support families and ensure children are safe. Challenges in staffing this essential workforce are not unique to Maine; there are significant workforce challenges nationally.

Increased pay is important to attract and retain workers in any field, but in the particularly stressful and complex work of child protection, we also need to ensure workers are well supported. We have information from frontline staff about the challenges they are experiencing, and the services that are critical to support the families they serve. Our actions should be responsive to that input. Efforts to support caseworkers should also include ongoing training and learning opportunities, intensive supervision, and mentoring by experienced staff to create an environment of continuous quality improvement. A supportive workplace culture is essential to keep workers from burning out and leaving this field.  

Our state rightfully invests attention and resources in the crisis intervention of child protection. We need to be as deeply invested in ensuring parents and caregivers have what they need, when they need it, to provide safety and stability for their families.

We have a shared obligation to develop stronger family support systems at both community and state levels.

As part of the development of Maine’s Child Safety and Family Well-Being Plan, we spoke with families and community leaders across the state. They emphasized that families need to have access to resources to meet their basic household needs; affordable childcare and housing; timely mental health and substance use services; support in situations of domestic violence, and more. Families also need to live in supportive communities where help is encouraged, supported and available. Investment in these supports is a downpayment on the health and well-being of the next generation.  

We all care about the safety and well-being of Maine children. The challenges facing families and the broad child welfare system are complex. It will require the thoughtful, intentional and determined work of us all to address these problems. We have the policy solutions needed to improve support for the child welfare workforce and to improve family safety and stability. Now we need the public and political will to take action. 

We look forward to continuing to work with state and community partners and the Legislature to ensure positive outcomes for children, through the implementation and ongoing development of Maine’s Child Safety and Family Well-Being Plan, which outlines much of the work to support and strengthen families before a crisis.

We urge concerned community members to use their voice to encourage our legislators and state leaders to invest in the resources needed to improve child and family well-being now – and for generations to come. 

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