AUGUSTA, Maine — Higher-ups in the Maine Department of Health and Human Services acknowledged Wednesday long-running issues in the child welfare system, telling lawmakers that changes are not addressing “persistent problems.”
Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew and acting Office of Child and Family Services Director Bobbi Johnson went in front of the Legislature’s oversight panel on Wednesday, just over a week after Todd Landry resigned from leading the office that has come under pressure after dozens of child deaths in recent years.
In recent months, the administration of Gov. Janet Mills has pointed to progress in staffing and training when confronted with trouble in the system. Advocates dinged the department earlier this spring when it responded to Maine having the nation’s highest child maltreatment rate by citing a broad definition of maltreatment. The tone on Wednesday was different.
Child welfare reforms “are not keeping pace with persistent problems and new challenges facing Maine children and families, such as the epidemic of substance use disorders and economic instability precipitated by high costs and a difficult economy for many,” Lambrew told the oversight panel.
In 2021, at least 31 children in Maine, the most on record, died in tracked incidents that were associated with abuse or neglect or had occurred after a history of family involvement with the child welfare system. Last year, DHHS reported at least 29 child fatalities, and official year-to-date figures for 2023 are not yet available.
Lawmakers pressured Lambrew on how they felt she appeared to not previously acknowledge staffing and safety problems, but Lambrew said DHHS previously recognized issues and that vacancies had been lower, noting there were 13 vacancies in December 2020 but 70 now. Offices in Lewiston and Rockland are particularly struggling, Johnson added.
DHHS is reviewing all concerns from various caseworkers who have come before the oversight committee in recent months to share struggles over grueling hours, low morale and lack of support from higher-ups, Lambrew said.
“For example, there is no place in my department for a supervisor to pressure a caseworker to work without pay,” she said.
DHHS only said Landry resigned from the office he led since 2019 for “personal reasons,” and Johnson stepped in after serving since 2015 as the department’s associate director of child welfare services.
The department is conducting a nationwide search for its next OCFS director, with a Dec. 20 application deadline, but in response to numerous questions from lawmakers on the panel, Lambrew said she has “full confidence” in Johnson and any Maine candidates.
Johnson said improving Maine’s child welfare system is personal for her. She began working as a child protective services caseworker in the Bangor office in 1995 and was a kinship resource parent several years ago for her great-niece who was successfully reunified with her parents.
“I will prioritize the wellbeing and empowerment of staff as we work toward our common goal of ensuring child safety,” Johnson said.
Johnson also said the office agrees with the state’s watchdog agency report in November that found child protective services workers made several “unsound safety decisions” when interacting with the family of Jaden Harding in the years before the Brewer boy was born. Jaden’s father was later convicted of killing the boy in 2021 when he was six weeks old.
Assistant Senate Minority Leader Lisa Keim, R-Dixfield, told Lambrew and Johnson she “just didn’t hear enough coming from the department that makes me think that changes are coming soon enough.”
“We’re open to any good ideas that will help Maine children and families,” Lambrew replied.
