AUGUSTA — A nonprofit group led by a former state senator is calling for reforms to the state’s child welfare system that include providing more support for overburdened caseworkers and removing more children from their families when they are clearly at risk of neglect or abuse.

The 35-page report, “Unsupported: Key Lessons for Improving Maine’s Child Welfare System by Supporting all Stakeholders,” is the result of listening sessions conducted across the state with front-line workers, foster families and others with direct experience in the system, such as those mandated by law to report suspected abuse.

“What we learned is that these people who are out there on the front line are dedicated,” said Bill Diamond, founder of Walk a Mile in Their Shoes. “They love the kids they work with. They love their colleagues, but they just want to be supported by management. They want to be able to make a difference. And they want their opinions to be heard. If all of those three areas could be covered, we would be able to solve a lot of these problems.”

Diamond, a Democrat who represented Windham in the Legislature, said his group asked hundreds of people about problems they experienced and solicited their ideas for fixing them – something that people with direct experience said had never been done. During a news conference outside the governor’s office in the Hall of Flags on Tuesday, Diamond said the report’s recommendations focus largely on management issues and would not require new legislation.

The recommendations come as lawmakers are looking for ways improve a system that critics say fails to protect children from neglect and abuse because of rapid staff turnover fueled by poor management, inadequate training, high caseloads, forced overtime, and a lack of substance use and mental health services for struggling parents and children.

Legislators have been conducting in-depth reviews of four cases involving children who were known to the department and who died within weeks of each other in 2021. It follows a similar review conducted after two high-profile child deaths in 2018.

Caseworkers have been telling lawmakers that current working conditions make it practically impossible to properly and fully investigate allegations of abuse and neglect. Experienced caseworkers are leaving because of burnout and stress, adding work for the case managers who remain.

Walk a Mile in Their Shoes, which has an advisory board that includes former Gov. John Baldacci, former Attorney General Michael Carpenter and former DHHS Commissioner Michael Petit, recommends adopting a team approach to casework.

Caseworkers are now responsible for all of their own paperwork and collecting evidence for court cases, despite having no legal training. They are responsible for referring parents and children to community services so they can maintain – or regain – custody of their children.

Those duties, in addition to supervising children in hotels and emergency rooms and transporting children to appointments, leaves little time for social work and following up with parents to ensure they are genuinely engaged in making changes to protect their children.

The group suggests hiring more – and increasing the pay of – case aides, or legal aides, who help with clerical work and obtain medical, educational and other records. It also calls for providing clinical support to help evaluate and address medical, dental health and mental health needs of children soon after they come into state custody.

The group also recommends taking a harder line with parents who are not working to address the underlying issues that can place children at risk. The group says it supports family reunification efforts, which is a goal of child welfare programs nationwide, but only when it is safe for the child.

EMPHASIS ON REUNIFICATION QUESTIONED

“DHHS appears to place an excessive focus on reunifying children with their biological families, an ideology that can come at the expense of the child,” the group said. “It appears that DHHS often overlooks parental shortcomings and histories to continue pursuing reunification as the primary goal.”

Victoria Vose spoke during the news conference and attributed the death of her grandson, Maddox Williams, to the department’s focus on family reunification. Maddox was abused and killed by his mother, Jessica Trefethen, after she was granted custody of the 3-year-old.

Trefethen, whose history with state caseworkers dated to 2013 because of struggles with mental health and substance use, was found guilty of depraved indifference murder and was sentenced to 47 years in prison.

Vose said Maddox would have been safer in her care, since Trefethen barely knew her own son and was not meeting her obligations to keep him safe.

“The monster abandoned him for 23 months, and abandonment alone is enough to ensure Maddox’s safety by staying with me,” Vose said. “Reunification should never been a factor in my grandson’s case, as in many others. I don’t want Maddox’s death to be in vain, which has inspired me to continue working to protect all children in state care. Maddox matters. Every child matters.”

WATCHDOG’S REVIEW CRITICIZED

Maddox’s death is one of the four being reviewed by lawmakers. Vose and Diamond criticized a review of the case conducted by the state watchdog agency, the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, saying it glossed over the department’s failures. Vose said she repeatedly raised concerns that Maddox was unsafe with his mother.

Despite investments that have added more caseworker positions this year, the Office of Child and Family Service’s own reporting to the federal government has noted a decline in performance, with the state failing to prevent repeated maltreatment of children.

The department’s most recent report, released in September, showed the rate for repeated maltreatment has grown steadily in recent years, from 15.4% in fiscal year 2018-19 and 16.8% in fiscal year 2019-20. Maine’s rate of 19.6% is now twice the national average of 9.7%. And risk and safety concerns were only adequately identified in half the cases reviewed, and adequately addressed and monitored only 26% of the time.

Todd Landry resigned as the director of OCFS two weeks ago amid intensifying criticism of the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that is charged with the child protection program. Bobbi Johnson, the state’s associate director of Child Welfare Services, is serving as acting director, while the administration conducts a national search for a new director.

DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew acknowledged issues within the department in a hearing before lawmakers last week and said the change in leadership marked an opportunity to address workplace concerns. She said the administration is open to other new ideas to help “stabilize the system.”

DHHS TO REVIEW REPORT

Lambrew and Johnson said they looked forward to reviewing the nonprofit’s report.

“We are committed to improving team support, training, mentorship, and communication for caseworkers, along with better pathways for caseworkers to offer ideas or criticisms,” they said in a joint statement. “We are also working on addressing payments to Maine’s resource (foster) families, who are an important and valued part of the child welfare system. In addition to this report, we also look forward to reviewing the recommendations of the Legislature. We agree that the child welfare system needs to be strengthened and problems need to be fixed, and we pledge to continue to engage with partners in this critical work.”

The report was applauded by two members of the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee, which is considering its own reform recommendations for the upcoming session.

Sen. Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, said he supported the group’s recommendations and would work to implement them.

Rep. Sawin Millett, R-Waterford, credited the group for delivering “a public service beyond imagination” and urged members of both political parties to prioritize the report’s recommendations. Failure to make system improvements, he said, have caused vulnerable children to suffer, when they are entitled to have “safety and living support.”

“We may not require a Bible of legislative language,” Millett said, “but it will require all of us stepping up and showing our support for correcting the problems we now know exist and giving it the kind of attention that it deserves.

“I am committed to that end.”

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