By Michael Shepherd - May 18, 2022 Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up.
Good morning from Augusta. There are 27 days until Maine's June primaries.
What we're watching today
Two lawmakers are escalating their push for more child welfare reforms. Family members of children who have died in state custody, foster parents and childcare providers will be at the Maine State House on Wednesday for a 9:30 a.m. news conference organized by Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, and Senate Minority Leader Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, to push for more reforms to the child welfare system. It will run concurrently with a meeting of the Legislature's oversight panel, which is discussing the issue.
The system has been the subject of long and often circular debates among lawmakers over the past few years. The deaths of 4-year-old Kendall Chick and 10-year-old Marissa Kennedy months apart in late 2017 and early 2018 at the hands of their caregivers shined a bright light on the system. Renewed attention came amid more deaths of children in state custody in 2021, which was the worst year on record in Maine by that measure.
Diamond has been one of the more aggressive lawmakers on this issue, backing a bill to separate the child welfare office from the Department of Health and Human Services that passed the Maine Senate by surprise in 2021 despite fierce resistance from the administration of Gov. Janet Mills.
Changes have been made steadily over the past five years, including in a $1.2 billion spending package from the Democratic governor and lawmakers that provided millions to hire more caseworkers and gave more power to a child welfare ombudsman whose office has clashed with the Mills administration in the past year. Both sides have said communication has improved.
While the state has touted progress in hiring and training, reports from the ombudsman and another government watchdog have flagged continued issues. High workloads were flagged as a problem in a report released in March by the Legislature's Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, finding 20 of 150 caseworker positions unfilled. Even if those spots were filled, 33 more would be needed to adequately staff cases.
The news conference on Wednesday is designed to put more pressure on the state. Diamond told WVOM on Tuesday that a family member of 3-year-old Maddox Williams, who police say was killed by his mother last year, will tell their story of interacting with the system. He said the event is aimed at getting the state to "open up" to suggestions from the outside.
"They've been very resistant to having anybody come inside and take a look and see what what's really going on," he said, noting that has been a theme across different administrations.
The Mills administration will resist that notion. Late last year, the department changed their policies to inform the ombudsman more quickly about child deaths and better communicate with police and first responders. But the changes made so far by state officials have been too far to the margins for many advocates. The full Legislature will not return to Augusta until a new crop of lawmakers are picked in November. This is going to be a long-term problem for the state to solve.
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News and notes
— Gov. Janet Mills is on the road for the third straight day on Wednesday. She will do a downtown walk in Gorham this morning, followed by stops at a child care center in Windham, an arts education center in Bridgton and the opening of a new MaineHealth treatment center for people with autism and development disabilities in Portland.
— Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is one of the few Republicans open to a new $48 billion bailout bill for restaurants and other businesses being considered by Senate Democrats. She told Roll Call that she was "inclined to support additional help" for hard-hit industries. Other Republicans wary of deficit spending. It's still unclear whether anything will advance, with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, still undecided on the issue.
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What we're reading
— Lawmakers are talking about the dispute between Anthem and Maine Medical Center in ways that show their views of the health care landscape, but the state does not have much power to do anything about it.
— More than $100,000 in outside spending has poured into the June 14 special election for an open Maine Senate seat in Hancock County. The winner will likely not even cast a vote in their new position, with former Sen. Brian Langley, R-Ellsworth, and Rep. Nicole Grohoski, D-Ellsworth, set to run against each other again in November.
Nick Gumlaw of Portland, right, releases a stunt kite controlled by Amanda Hutter of Scarborough as they take advantage of gusty winds on Tuesday in South Portland. (AP photo by Robert F. Bukaty)
đź“·Â Â Lead photo:Â Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey waves to legislators on Dec. 2, 2020 at the Augusta Civic Center. (BDN photo by Linda Coan-O'Kresik)
