On Tuesday, December 12, 2023 Walk a Mile in Their Shoes released its report entitled “Unsupported: Key Lessons for Improving Maine’s Child Welfare System by Supporting All Stakeholders.”
The report can be downloaded by visiting https://walkamilemaine.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/unsupported_wamits_report_121223.pdf
Walk a Mile in Their Shoes founder Bill Diamond said, “This report is the result of 10 months of in-depth interviews throughout Maine with those who interact with DHHS on a regular basis. This type of person-to-person research has never been done before in our state.”
The report finds that caseworkers, foster parents, children, and other stakeholders are left without adequate backing by the Department of Health and Human Services and examines areas of concern, who is impacted, straightforward solutions, and what success looks like. The report is the culmination of listening sessions and meetings with concerned citizens across Maine interested in providing better and safer outcomes for children in Maine’s care.
“It’s now up to DHHS to make the necessary changes in their own internal policies and procedures which have been failing children for years,” said Diamond. “This report offers specific solutions to the problems that we all recognize as serious threats to children in state care.”
Walk a Mile in Their Shoes plans on continuing interviews with stakeholders across Maine to monitor progress on DHHS’s efforts to improve a system that many recognize as flawed and sometimes needlessly puts children in danger. “This report is only the beginning of what needs to be an intensive and determined effort to fix our broken state child protection system,” said Diamond.