AUGUSTA, Maine — Each time Maine’s embattled child welfare system has been in the spotlight in recent months, state officials have given a common response.
An annual report from the Office of Child and Family Services highlighted that maltreatment is occurring repeatedly at a higher rate than the national average, and the state’s metrics in that area have not improved in recent years.
In response, Maine Department of Health and Human Services told the Maine Sunday Telegram the state has a broader definition of “maltreatment” than many other states, something that is contributing to the higher-than-average rates.
Regardless of the definition, Maine keeps trending in a negative direction when it comes to recurring child abuse cases, and state leaders must focus on factors contributing to the sobering numbers, critics and child welfare advocates contend.
Maine has higher rates because it defines maltreatment to include both “indicated” cases of abuse and neglect that may be of low to moderate severity along with substantiated high-severity findings, department spokesperson Jackie Farwell said Monday, echoing a line DHHS gave in April after a study found Maine had the nation’s highest maltreatment rate.
“The department has chosen to err on the side of overinclusion in reporting on concerns of child abuse and neglect relative to other states in the interest of public awareness and evidence-based action,” Farwell said.
Maine’s child maltreatment recurrence rate was 19.6 percent in fiscal year 2020-2021, more than double the national performance standard of seeing repeat maltreatment in no more than 9.7 percent of cases, per the annual report that was posted online in September.
The 356-page report, while highlighting some positives in areas such as placements and reunification, found a grim trend in Maine’s maltreatment recurrence rate, noting it grew from 15.4 percent in 2018-2019 and 16.8 percent in 2019-2020.
The Maine Children’s Alliance’s 2023 Maine KIDS COUNT Databook also found the state had the highest child maltreatment rate nationally for 2020, when the most recent figures were available, with 19 cases per 1,000 children, or more than twice the national rate of 8.4. Alaska had the second-highest rate of 18 maltreatment cases per 1,000 children.
Connecting high recurrence rates to a broader definition is “consistent with how they’ve addressed other problems by always looking for a bureaucratic explanation,” former Sen. Bill Diamond, a Democrat from Windham who formed a child abuse prevention group, said.
The more pressing concern is how the state’s maltreatment figures have worsened in recent years, added Maine Children’s Alliance policy associate Melissa Hackett. The state should focus on supporting families to ensure they do not experience another crisis, she said.
Under Mills, a Democrat, and her Republican predecessor, Paul LePage, the child welfare system has come under scrutiny after high-profile deaths of children in state care. Those cycles have led to reforms followed by additional deaths and calls for change.
Three-year-old Makinzlee Handrahan of Edgecomb, whose death on Christmas Day last year from blunt force trauma was ruled a homicide, is forcing a new conversation on the issue.
The man charged with Makinzlee’s death had been in a relationship with her mother at one point, and court documents released last week said daycare workers requested a DHHS investigation the month before her death after they noticed Makinzlee had bruises and other injuries.
In 2021, 25 children in Maine, the highest number on record, died in reported incidents that were associated with abuse or neglect or occurred after a history of family involvement with the child welfare system.
Mills and her health department rolled out an initial version of a “ Child Safety and Family Well-Being Plan” this year that aims to boost parents’ economic security, assist caregivers and improve agencies’ coordination on child welfare. One part includes $1 million to start an education campaign for parents that seeks to “reduce the stigma of asking for help.”
Mills and Democratic lawmakers have also pointed to budgeting millions to assist with foster care, caseworkers, adoptions and behavioral health care. Still, critics say those fixes do not meet the urgent moment.
Diamond, whose nonprofit Walk a Mile in Their Shoes seeks to prevent child homicides and abuse, said his group has interviewed more than 300 DHHS workers, law enforcement officials, educators, parents and others since March as part of a statewide listening tour.
It will issue a report later this year, but Diamond said feedback has included concerns also detailed in the recent office report, namely that roughly a third of the 400-plus DHHS caseworker positions were vacant, staff do not feel supported and managers have told caseworkers to use a computer program to determine whether a child is at risk for abuse.
“Every single person told us [the computer program] is totally useless,” Diamond said.