Gov. Janet Mills removed two key members of a state advisory group that funds juvenile justice initiatives but has given no public explanation as to why.
Jill Ward, the director of the Center for Youth Policy and Law at the University Maine School of Law, and Atlee Reilly, a lawyer for Disability Rights Maine, said they expected to continue serving in leadership positions on the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group when they learned earlier this month that the governor did not renew their longtime appointments.
The news also took group members by surprise given Ward and Reilly’s level of involvement and expertise, according to its chair. Ward, whom Mills originally appointed to the advisory group in 2020, had served as both chair and vice chair, and frequently facilitated the group’s meetings. Reilly, the chair of its legislative affairs committee, was first appointed in 2015. Mills did not provide them a reason for declining to reappoint them.
Two spokespeople for the governor, Ben Goodman and Scott Ogden, did not respond to three emails, a text message and a voicemail over a week from the Bangor Daily News, seeking an explanation for why Mills chose not to reappoint Ward and Reilly.
“The failure to reappoint Jill Ward and Atlee Riley to the JJAG board came as a shock to us and the loss of their talent and energy is unfortunate,” said Portland-based veteran juvenile defense lawyer Ned Chester, who chairs the advisory group, in a statement on behalf of the members.
The advisory group canceled its meeting last Friday in response to the “unexpected departure” of Ward and Reilly, said board member Chris Bicknell. He is also the executive director of New Beginnings, a Lewiston-based nonprofit that supports and shelters homeless youth.
The 33-person advisory group ensures Maine’s compliance with federal juvenile justice standards in order to receive federal funding for local juvenile justice initiatives. It then oversees the disbursement of those funds. It does not take positions on state juvenile justice policy but generates regular discussion among a range of professionals who work with youth.
Ward is considered one of Maine’s foremost experts in juvenile justice policy and has helped shape state and national conversations encouraging states to adopt practices that are more effective at addressing delinquency than traditional youth prisons.
She co-chaired a state task force that commissioned a major review of Maine’s juvenile justice system five years ago, which recommended increasing community-based services and removing all youth from the state’s youth prison, Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland. Ward also served as a senior policy advisor to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, from April 2023 until last month.
“I was proud to help lead the 2019 task force and to work on the recommendations of the systems assessment that resulted from that process through the JJAG,” Ward said in an email. “Being removed from this role came as a surprise and while I am disappointed, I remain interested in continuing to serve.”
Reilly was first appointed to the advisory group by Gov. Paul LePage. His organization, Disability Rights Maine, conducts regular visits to Long Creek. It was also the agency that complained to the Justice Department in 2019 that Maine’s lack of community-based services resulted in the unnecessarily institutionalization of youth, including at Long Creek. The complaint prompted a federal lawsuit against the state that ended in a court-supervised settlement late last year.
“It’s surprising and disappointing,” Reilly said. “I’m going to continue to advocate for these kids and support the work that JJAG is doing but apparently not as a member.”
Reporter Callie Ferguson may be reached at cferguson@bangordailynews.com.
