Why is Maine taking more kids these days? Thanks Governor LePage!
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When Governor John Baldacci took office back in 2003, we were in the midst of fallout over the 2001 death of Logan Marr, a young foster child who died at the hands of her CPS Agent foster/adoptive mother Sally Schofield.
At the time, Maine was notorious for removing kids from their families basing such removals on little or nothing. The state would often target the poor, or single parents who didn't have the financial recourse's to fight back. The Logan Marr case is said to have led to widespread reforms in Maine's Child Welfare System which focused on family preservation through intensive services such as counseling, drug treatment, housing or daycare which helped the parents to keep the kids safe while in the home.
At the time, Maine was notorious for removing kids from their families basing such removals on little or nothing. The state would often target the poor, or single parents who didn't have the financial recourse's to fight back. The Logan Marr case is said to have led to widespread reforms in Maine's Child Welfare System which focused on family preservation through intensive services such as counseling, drug treatment, housing or daycare which helped the parents to keep the kids safe while in the home.
As late as 2011, Maine was bragging about a Decade of Change that made it better for families and children with Logan Marr's story being remembered on the 10th anniversary of her death.
Richard Wexler wrote a wonderful write-up on this transformation on the National Coalition for Child Welfare Reform's blog.
Richard Wexler wrote a wonderful write-up on this transformation on the National Coalition for Child Welfare Reform's blog.
- Foster care in America The day child welfare changed? (Part one)
- Foster care in America: The day child welfare changed? (Part two)
Of course this didn't perfect Maine's child welfare system but the improvements, including cutting the number of foster kids in half, or getting them out of group homes and institutions while increasing family preservation services and kinship placements was a major improvement over years past when the state would simply step in and snatch a kid then ask questions later. Such kids would often be kept out of sight and out of mind, never to be heard from again.
In 2011 Governor Paul LePage took office and immediately started taking the ax to these services that helped to keep kids with their families under the guise of "welfare reform."
They got federal funding to expand home visitation programs for at risk kids...
But cutthe funding.
Then in May of 2012, an infant named Ethan Henderson was thrown into a chair by his father, who was a real messed up former foster child by the name of Gordon Collins-Faunce. It was during this time that Governor LePage was quoted in the newspaper as saying the following...
In 2011 Governor Paul LePage took office and immediately started taking the ax to these services that helped to keep kids with their families under the guise of "welfare reform."
They got federal funding to expand home visitation programs for at risk kids...
But cutthe funding.
Then in May of 2012, an infant named Ethan Henderson was thrown into a chair by his father, who was a real messed up former foster child by the name of Gordon Collins-Faunce. It was during this time that Governor LePage was quoted in the newspaper as saying the following...
LePage told a television station Wednesday that he supports the death penalty “for those that kill babies” and feels DHHS has “gone from one extreme to another” when it decides whether to remove a child from a home in which abuse is suspected. |
The Ethan Henderson case was apparently used as a springboard for LePage to implement a policy change in Maine's child welfare system.
LePage also gave raises to CPS Agents, while not doing so for other state workers who were under a raise freeze.
All while trying to push this view as if he's all for child abuse prevention, while cutting the budget for services that helped to do what was best for the kids, which was to keep them safe while they were in the home...
LePage also gave raises to CPS Agents, while not doing so for other state workers who were under a raise freeze.
All while trying to push this view as if he's all for child abuse prevention, while cutting the budget for services that helped to do what was best for the kids, which was to keep them safe while they were in the home...
- LePage budget should provide more funding to reunify families, not keep kids in foster care
- Foster care system repeating old mistakes
- When Maine’s most vulnerable children are caught in the budget gap
A spike in the number of children entering state custody because their parents are abusing bath salts has forced the state’s Office of Child and Family Services to add almost $1 million to its budget this year to accommodate 200 additional children living in foster care and in the homes of relatives.
The Department of Health and Human Services — which includes the child and family services office — expects to request an additional $4.2 million for that purpose in upcoming budget packages to be voted on by state lawmakers to cover those expenses through June 30, 2015.
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/10/22/health/parents-bath-salts-use-sends-more-children-to-state-custody/
Of course, LePage sought to cut drug treatment programs from the budget.
In the budget that he submitted to the Legislature in 2011, LePage sought to cut $4.4 million from the program that funds substance abuse treatment. In subsequent negotiations, he offered to cut the reduction in half, but the Legislature finally refused to eliminate any of the funding.
http://www.pressherald.com/2014/02/06/with_drug_crackdown__lepage_favoring_enforcement_over_treatment_/
Some of these programs had been proven to be successful, helped to do what was best for the kids by keeping them with their families, and were less costly than foster care...
They didn't want you to worry about that though. It is more important to take them away. It's good for the economy too. It provides contracts for local businesses like lawyers and shrinks. |
Lawmakers have backed reductions in spending that affected programs that help keep children with their biological families or find them a safe, permanent home with other families.
Examples of services hit hard by the cuts are kinship care, which places a child with a relative rather than a foster home; “wraparound” counseling and education for families of at-risk children, and support for foster care adoptive parents, to prevent disruptions that send kids back into the foster care system, says state Rep. Dick Farnsworth, Health and Human Services Committee co-chairman.
http://www.pressherald.com/2013/03/23/poor-planning-adds-to-foster-care-crisis_2013-03-24/
Today, 3/30/2015 we get a couple of updates.
Facing shortage, Maine DHHS calls on families to take in foster kids
and...
DHHS: More than 500 parent-less Maine kids looking for ‘forever homes
Facing shortage, Maine DHHS calls on families to take in foster kids
and...
DHHS: More than 500 parent-less Maine kids looking for ‘forever homes
The Department of Health and Human Services put out the call Monday for more families to step forward to help children in need.
Here are the sobering statistics: There are 1,990 children in foster care. Of those, 502 are seeking adoption. If you think about it, 500 kids out there wondering if they’ll ever have a family of their own is about as sad as it gets. You can see some of the kids who need homes here.
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