News

Walk a Mile in Their Shoes continues to get reports from stakeholders across Maine. That feedback centers around impermanence, poor caseworker retention, mistreating placement resources, and allowing children to be subjected to inappropriate conditions. The letter below was sent to OCFS Director Bobbi Johnson. December 3, 2024 Dear Director Johnson, Walk a Mile in Their […]

What will it take for the department to listen? In September, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against Maine for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide appropriate care for Maine children with disabilities. The DOJ alleges Maine has failed to provide hundreds of children with mental health issues and/or developmental

For the second year in a row, United Bikers of Maine, Cumberland County has organized a ride to benefit Walk a Mile in Their Shoes. The Maddox Memorial Ride will take place on Saturday June 22, 2024, with registration beginning at 9 AM at Erik’s Church in Windham, Maine. The cost is $25 per rider

On January 31, 2001, five-year-old Logan Marr (b. October 14, 1995) died of suffocation after being duct-taped in her foster home. Foster parent Sally Ann Schofield would later be found guilty of manslaughter receiving a twenty-eight-year prison sentence with all, but twenty years suspended. She was released after seventeen years. The judge at the time

WINDHAM, Maine — While Walk a Mile in Their Shoes hopes that outcomes will improve for abused and neglected children in Maine’s care and are concerned that appointing Ms. Johnson Permanent Director of the Office of Child and Family Services will fall short of creating the structural improvements necessary to protect Maine’s kids. “Very disappointed for

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

Again, Mainers are faced with the all too familiar case of a child being killed in their home after DHHS had been notified by a mandated reporter of the suspected abuse of a minor. In October 2022 DHHS found no child abuse had occurred. Just two months later, on Christmas morning the girl was found

The Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) has once again failed to appropriately monitor and oversee the safety of a child. One-month-old Sylus Melvin was killed by his father Reginald Melvin who plead guilty. It had been reported to OCFS that the child was in danger because his father was violent and unpredictable. Sylus

Former Senator Bill Diamond issues statement to the Government Oversight Committee (GOC) regarding the government watchdog report analyzing the Department of Health and Human Services’s (DHHS) handling of the Maddox Williams case. The Walk a Mile in Their Shoes founder puts into question the watchdog’s credibility in this instance considering the report’s conclusion that caseworkers

It’s time we take advantage of the experience of those working in child protection, the people who know and understand the system.