Walk a Mile in Their Shoes (WAMITS) — a non-profit founded by former Democratic state senator Bill Diamond — released an extensive report Tuesday detailing how the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (Maine DHHS) is failing the state’s most vulnerable children — and what can be done about it.
This report is the culmination of a series of listening sessions held throughout the state in recent months with those know first hand what’s happening on the ground in these situations — including “current and former caseworkers, foster parents, childcare providers, educators, law enforcement officials, and others who interact with DHHS on a regular basis.”
“These experts know the system better than anyone else,” the report reads, “yet amazingly they have apparently never been asked, especially in an environment free of fear and retaliation, how to fix the system.”
Maine’s child welfare system, housed under the state DHHS, has come under fire in recent years for its continued failure to protect Maine’s most vulnerable children.
The number of child fatalities on the watch of DHHS has been increasing for more than a decade now.
In 2007 — the first year for which child fatality data is available — seven children died despite the involvement of child protective services. In 2022, that number rose to twenty-eight, meaning that four times more children died that year compared to 2007 despite DHHS interventions.
[RELATED: Public Records Shed Light on Maine’s Failure to Protect Most Vulnerable Children]
Of these twenty-eight, eleven children were determined to have died as a result of “accidents,” including “motor vehicle accidents, drowning, fire, etc.” Six died as a result of “unsafe sleep.” For three others, the cause of death was classified as “sudden unexpected infant death.” Two children died from unspecified causes. One child was murdered. Only five of these children were determined to have died of “natural causes.”
In 2021, four children who had been previously involved with DHHS died within weeks of each other, prompting renewed scrutiny of the Department. Since then, the parents of all four children have been charged with either murder or manslaughter in connection with the children’s deaths.
[RELATED: Director of Maine’s Worst-in-the-Nation Child Welfare System Finally Resigns]
Amidst all of this controversy, Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) director Todd Landry resigned citing “personal reasons.” When DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew emailed state workers to alert them of Landry’s departure, she made no mention of the tragic failures that have occurred under his — and her — watch.
Titled Unsupported: Key Lessons for Improving Maine’s Child Welfare System by Supporting All Stakeholders, the report from WAMITS is broken down into several sections, one for each of the key constituencies involved in and affected by the DHHS’ recent failures: caseworkers, foster parents, children, and other stakeholders.
Each section outlines the “areas of concern” that were noted by stakeholders, explains the consequences that are associated with these problems, and concludes with a number of practical solutions aimed at solving the identified issues.
Caseworkers
Insufficient training, a “dysfunctional” computer system, unrealistic expectations, and unmanageable caseloads are among the main problems identified in this section of the WAMITS report.
According to some of the caseworkers, “the point of the training is to check a box, not to ensure that caseworkers have truly absorbed the training materials and retained what they have learned.”
Additionally, caseworkers suggested that they felt their training was seriously lacking content- and structure-wise in areas critical to their job performance.
Also contributing to the endangerment of the children under the watch of the Maine DHHS is the department’s reliance upon a “dysfunctional” computer system.
Maine DHHS caseworkers depend upon the computer program Katahdin to “assess the risk to a child and make a decision about whether or not a child should remain in, or return to, their biological homes.”
“Leaving decisions about child safety to a computer program without the benefit of professional judgement by human caseworkers,” the report argues, “leaves cracks that vulnerable children can slip through, especially if the data being entered is incomplete or inaccurate.”
Caseworkers asserted in the report that “overriding Katahdin’s recommendations is discouraged by DHHS management.”
Another reason why caseworkers feel they are unable to do their job of protecting Maine’s children effectively is the “unrealistic expectations” placed upon them by DHHS managers.
Many of the tasks that individual caseworkers are expected to complete are well outside of their expertise and training, such as compiling legal documents. Because judges must ultimately base their decisions on the information in front of them, improperly completed documents can jeopardize a child’s outcome in court.
Previous reporting from the Maine Wire, based on disciplinary records obtained via the Freedom of Access Act, supports this aspect of the report.
According to a review of those records, case workers were frequently disciplined by their supervisors for failing to properly compile legal records in support of court hearings.
In response to those disciplinary actions, several case workers said the heavy workload often prevented them from completing paperwork.
Furthermore, according to Diamond’s report, caseworkers are often expected to handle an overwhelming number of cases spread throughout a geographically diverse area of the state, making it increasingly difficult to put an appropriate amount of time and effort into handling any one child’s situation.
Caseworkers are also directed to place children into foster homes quickly in order to avoid resorting to “hoteling” — or placing children into hotel rooms temporarily until proper accommodations are secured — oftentimes leading to inappropriate placements that result in a child needing to be moved yet again once a better foster home is identified.
Solutions
The WAMITS report proposes two concrete solutions to the problems noted in this section of the report: managing caseloads by using a team approach and taking full advantage of the outside resources that already exist throughout the state.
By implementing a team approach to casework, the report argues that children would be better served by those with expertise in certain, more specialized areas, as well as that it should be more feasible to “safely maintain a larger pool of cases than any one caseworker alone is able to.”
As far as taking advantage of outside resources is concerned, the report recommends pursuing the possibility of establishing “temporary homes” where children can be placed to “clean up, decompress, and be evaluated an connected with needed resources” before being placed into a foster home. This would allow caseworkers more time to make appropriate placements and avoid moving children from home to home unnecessarily.
Additionally, there are organizations willing to provide material needs such as diapers and clothes that caseworkers report being “discouraged from taking advantage of” by DHHS management.
“Better supported caseworkers have more opportunities to notice when children are at risk and living in unsafe situations, sparing children unnecessary suffering and, in the most extreme cases, saving lives,” the report concludes.
Foster Parents
Foster parents who participated in the creation of this report shared that “DHHS often brings children to their homes with few resources and little information about their history and their needs, leaving foster families to scramble and causing further disruption and trauma to kids.”
It was also noted by foster parents that the Maine DHHS often fails to provide timely reimbursement for expenses, causing them to face financial hardships — particularly with relation to childcare costs.
A lack of timely communication was also noted “time and again” by foster parents in these listening sessions.
“When foster parents receive inaccurate or incomplete information, especially when that information is known or should be known by DHHS, it jeopardizes the foster family’s ability to keep kids in their care safe,” the report argues.
It was also shared that foster parents are often excluded from legal proceedings concerning the children in their care, despite being “uniquely positioned” to know about them.
Another major concern cited by foster parents is a continued fear of retaliation by DHHS should they speak out about these concerns.
“In voicing concerns to caseworkers or supervisors, foster parents share that they are often treated as opposing parties rather than partners working for the same outcome: the health and wellbeing of the children they serve,” the report states.
Solutions
Oftentimes, the difficulties faced by foster families on a regular basis force them to “remove themselves from the system, leaving fewer homes for children in need.”
To help move toward solutions, the report suggests establishing a non-profit that “would allow foster parents to find support and community, to develop professionally, and to advocate for themselves and the children they serve.”
The organization also ought to “give foster parents a space to share information and voice concerns without fear of reprisal from DHHS.”
At the close of this section, it notes that WAMITS is “prepared to help launch” this organization and to “conceptualize the structure and funding options to make this new entity a success.”
Children
Many of the concerns noted elsewhere in the report were reframed in this section to illustrate their impact on the children who are served by the Maine DHHS — such as the overburdening of caseworkers, improper training, and a computer-based decision-making protocol.
Additionally, it was noted in this section that “it often seems that ensuring access to services for parents, not their children, is the priority for DHHS,” something that the report argues is “symptomatic of larger problems within DHHS.”
Also raised in this section are concerns regarding an alleged excessive focus on family reunification, particularly in situations where that is clearly not the safest or most appropriate option for a child.
“In some cases,” the report states, “stakeholders report, DHHS continues to push for reunification in cases where parents openly state their refusal to comply with reunification plans or voice their desire to have their parental rights terminated.”
It is also suggested in the report that “the system does not appear to be prioritizing permanent placement for children” and explains that the state has consistently failed to meet the federally-determined goal of children reaching a state of permanency within twelve months of entering the system.
The report also notes that DHHS “demonstrates an implicit trust in kinship placements that can result in red flags being overlooked, leaving children at risk.”
It is also noted that because young children are the most defenseless, teens in the system are often “overlooked,” “unprioritized,” and “underserved.”
“Children who have contact with the child welfare system are at a high risk for bad outcomes,” the report concludes. “The chance that children experience these bad outcomes is higher when the system is not set up to adequately support them.”
Solutions
First and foremost, the report asserts that “existing laws and policies must be more closely adhered to” and that the pursuit of permanency for children in the system must be prioritized.
It is also suggested that drug testing procedures be revisited to more effectively ensure the safety of the children involved, as well as to “evolve based on current trends and science.”
The report also advocates that kinship placements be more thoughtfully made and carefully scrutinized by DHHS.
Lastly, the report argues that more resources ought to be dedicated to supporting teenagers in the system.
“When children are given adequate support and access to resources as early as possible, it becomes less likely that they will need more serious interventions down the line, benefiting them and the system as a whole,” the report states. “Less trauma inflicted by a dysfunctional system gives children a better chance at avoiding negative outcomes and going on to live healthy and successful lives.”
Other Stakeholders
The final section of the report is dedicated to succinctly providing an overview of the observations and recommendations of a handful of other groups of individuals who have frequent contact with DHHS, including: mandated reporters, educators, childcare providers, clinicians, law enforcement officials, the judiciary department, domestic violence victims, guardians ad litem, and community resource providers.
Guardians ad litem are individuals who are appointed by the court to “gather information and prepare recommendations concerning children involved in some family matters and child protection cases” and ultimately “help the court determine what is in the best interest of the child.”
A lack of effective communication and collaboration emerged as a common theme among many of the concerns raised by those referenced in this part of the report.
Similarly, many of the proposed solutions offered here would not necessarily require major policy changes to achieve, but rather are simple, straightforward recommendations to improve the partnerships between the many moving parts of the state’s child welfare system.
This final section of the report serves to underscore the vast and numerous ways in which Maine’s child welfare system fails to provide the supports necessary to protect the children for which it is responsible.
Following a hearing on child welfare held in Augusta last week, Diamond — the founder of WAMITS and long-time advocate for the cause — spoke to members of the press.
“All of these things have been happening and getting worse over the past five years, and now all of a sudden they are going to start listening to their employees — caseworkers and others — and see how they can make changes,” Diamond said. “But there’s another whole group they’re not even mentioning, and that’s foster parents. They’re equally as frustrated.”
“Why weren’t they listening before?” Diamond continued. “The answer was always: ‘Well, it’s not as bad as people say. We’re doing very well. And we’ve got some new plans to make it even better.'”
“It wasn’t ever recognized — or they wouldn’t admit — that they had serious problems,” Diamond said.
Although last week’s hearing on the child welfare system with Commissioner Lambrew and Acting Director of OCFS Bobbi Johnson was a step in the right direction toward the state government identifying and addressing the failures within the department’s child welfare system, it remains to be seen whether this extensive report from WAMITS will spark any tangible, practical changes within DHHS and OCFS going forward.
Click Here to Read the Full Report from Walk a Mile in Their Shoes
“Tangible and practical changes within the DHHS and OCFS”? No chance, but Bill and Jane Diamond should be greatly applauded for their efforts. Landry should’ve resigned earlier and Lambrew should be fired immediately. Instead, much like the failed CDC Director, Nirav Shah, she’ll likely fail upward to a cushy bureaucratic position in the DC Swamp.
Translation: “Now let’s try to address the problems we’ve created!”
…lol, these twits will always have a job!
This is the most informative and well written article I have read concerning this horrific situation in Maine.
Thank-you Libby Palanza , Bill Diamond, team WAMITS, Foster Parents, Caseworkers, and anyone I’ve neglected to mention who are doing all they can for our children and teens in Maine.
Excellent report, Ms. Palanza.
To Senator Diamond I applaud your work but please, please no more non-profits. There are plenty around already which pay left-leaning people good money to accomplish very little.