AUGUSTA – On Tuesday, Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, introduced a bill to better protect Maine kids by strengthening legislative oversight of Maine’s child protection system. LD 1834, “An Act To Establish Ongoing Monitoring of Maine’s Child Protective Services,” was the subject of a public hearing before the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee.
“For what seems like a lifetime, I’ve watched Maine’s child protection services, under four administrations, move too slowly and often even regress in fixing their broken system,” said Sen. Diamond. “Because of a lack of transparency, neither the public, nor the press, nor the Legislature see the confusion and lack of consistency that happens behind the scenes, and that leads to Maine children being in danger. If we don’t address this obvious problem soon, there will be more child deaths that could have been prevented. It’s time the Legislature established ongoing monitoring of our child protection system to shine a light on these problems so that we can fix them and better protect Maine kids.”
LD 1834 would require the Government Oversight Committee to create a system to monitor, on an ongoing basis, the effectiveness of the Office of Child and Family Services in protecting children who are in state care. The committee may create a working group that would monitor the policies and practices used by the office to maintain the safety of children in state care, report to the committee on a quarterly basis and provide an annual report to the committee and the Legislature.
The mission of the Government Oversight Committee is to help ensure that public funds are expended for intended purposes, and that programs and activities are effectively, efficiently and economically managed. The Committee accomplishes this mission by conducting public inquiries and directing the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA) to conduct independent, objective reviews of State agencies and programs and other entities receiving public funds or expending private monies for public purposes. The Committee also has subpoena power.
In August, the Government Oversight Committee directed OPEGA to conduct a three-part review of Maine’s child protection services and how effectively children in state care are protected from abuse and neglect. OPEGA delivered part one of the report in January and is expected to deliver part two in March and part three in September of this year.
Sen. Diamond was a member of the Government Oversight Committee in 2018 when the Committee directed OPEGA to review the cases of 4-year-old Kendall Chick and of 10-year-old Marissa Kennedy. DHHS had placed Kendall Chick in the home where she was ultimately killed and had failed to adequately investigate reports and other signs of Marissa Kennedy’s abuse leading up to her death.
Five Mainers testified in support of the bill, including advocates and current foster parents. Victoria Vose, whose grandson Maddox Williams died in June 2021, offered emotional testimony about her family’s story. Maddox lived with Vose before being transferred to his mother’s custody. Maddox’s mother, Jessica Williams, had prior involvement with child protective services, and Vose had voiced her concerns about Maddox’s safety in Williams’ care with caseworkers. Maddox died three months after being placed in his mother’s full-time custody, and she has been charged with his murder.
LD 1834 faces further action in committee.