During a marathon 14-hour combined public hearing and work session, the Joint Standing Committee for Health and Human Services heard from 30 speakers and worked on five bills put forth by the Department of Health and Human Services through the governor’s office.

Spurred by the deaths of 4-year-old Kendall Chick of Wiscasset and 10-year-old Marissa Kennedy of Stockton Springs allegedly at the hands of caregivers, DHHS has undergone internal and other agency reviews about its handling of the cases. Gov. Paul LePage put forth five separate bills to try to solve some of the issues identified in the reviews. The OPEGA (Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability) report, issued in May, was frustrating to committee members due to its lack of detail, which OPEGA said was due to the ongoing criminal cases in both deaths. However, apparently referring to Chick’s situation since she was the child with a placement, the report states, “In one case, OCFS (Office of Child and Family Services) failed to follow policies and procedures in fully assessing the appropriateness of the placement and staying engaged with the child and family to ensure needed services and supports were provided.” It went on to say, “Poor job performance and inadequate supervision appear to have been factors.”

Since then, the governor’s office and DHHS have been working to address some of the issues.  Some were corrected without legislative support, but most would cost money and require the committee to come back into session to hold hearings and report out the requests.

LD 1919 would have made it a Class E criminal offense to fail to make a report of child abuse or neglect as a mandated reporter. LD 1920 would have changed the rules around when unsubstantiated child abuse allegations are expunged, and would have let unsubstantiated cases be used in administrative and judicial proceedings. LD 1921 would have let DHHS obtain confidential criminal history information, such as plea deals, cases dismissed for other means, and deferred disposition arrangements, to help the agency decide child placement. LD 1922 would change how family reunification efforts are made, changing the standard for reunification from “a priority” to “a reasonable effort." And LD 1923, an omnibus bill, would spend more for DHHS, costing about $20 million in taxes. That bill originally would have increased daily reimbursement rates for various levels of foster homes, reclassified the Child Welfare Investigator job to make it more of a law enforcement job, pay for a new child welfare information system, create 16 new Human Services Casework Supervisor positions and two new Regional Associate Directors for Child Welfare, add a $5 per hour stipend for caseworkers, supervisors, assistant program administrators and program administrators, add another $1 per hour stipend for most employees with a master’s degree, procure a pilot program to provide supportive visitation including supervision of court-ordered visitation with the child’s relatives, and procure clinical support and guidance for caseworkers, including direct consultation with clinicians, training, staff functioning, and debriefing.

DHHS did not request new caseworkers, although most caseworkers who spoke at the hearing were adamant more were needed, as were additional case aides, administrative aides who assist caseworkers. Caseworker Lindsay Duka said there are 35 caseworkers for all of Cumberland County, and all of Sagadahoc and Lincoln counties. With travel time, the time a caseworker must spend on a single case increases dramatically. Over the last year, she said, 34 percent of caseworkers in that district have left, leaving 160 open cases being managed by the remaining 23 caseworkers, not including those who might be out sick, or on vacation, or on leave for other reasons. “School hasn’t started yet,” she said. “Things always heat up after kids are back in school.”

That, she said, is because teachers, who are mandated reporters, make more calls after school begins. She said caseworkers are often forced to choose between their own and their families’ well being, and the welfare of another child and his family. Until there are more caseworkers, she said, “We are bailing out a sinking ship with a slotted spoon.”

Last year, the DHHS hotline for mandated reporters received more than 12,000 calls that went unanswered, according to Sen. Shenna Bellows (D-Dist. 14). She said many caseworkers spoke to her in confidence about serious issues not being handled, and law enforcement personnel have told her that calls by law enforcement to DHHS went unanswered. “Countless educators, day care, and social workers reported to me that they made numerous calls regarding children in their care that were never followed up on and that those children remain in the same unsafe situation.”

Mandated reporters who spoke in opposition to LD 1919 said they don’t know if the calls they have made have gotten through to caseworkers. Stephen Bailey, executive director of the Maine School Superintendent’s Association, who spoke neither for nor against, said it was more important to “make the reporting system more efficient." Doctors who spoke were also concerned about LD 1919, saying their professional judgment would be taken out of their hands. Moreover, some said that when they called DHHS to report a concern, they were asked to defend the concern.  Dr. Deborah Hagler said that on occasion when she made calls of a concern, she received “pushback.” “The person on the phone would say, ‘Well, that could just be bruises from falls, couldn’t it?’ My understanding is that I was supposed to report my concern, not prove the case.”

Others point out that the remedy currently in the system has never been used. Mandated reporters who fail to report now are subject to a fine of up to $500, but no one in the department or in the Legislature seemed to know whether, or when, such a fine had been levied.

Other speakers expressed great concern about the changes to reunification policy in LD 1922. Courtenay Allen, whose children were taken from her when she was suffering from addiction disorder, and who reunified with them the next year, said she was an example of why the services to parents in the reunification process need to be maintained. “What does reasonable effort mean? Will services and Medicaid for parents be continued? I would never have been able to beat my addiction and get my children back without that support.”

Others were concerned that unsubstantiated child abuse allegations might be used against them in court, which was at least implied in LD 1920 as well as other crimes that were not convicted, in LD 1921. Kate Knox, speaking for the American Civil Liberties Union, called the prospect that hearsay evidence might be used against someone a “dangerous violation of due process.”

Due to the number of speakers, the hearing went on until nearly 3 p.m. Committee members went out to buy sandwiches and salads for lunch, eaten at the committee table, as the public continued to speak.

When the work session finally began, it was clear the committee was not entirely convinced by either the arguments put forward by DHHS or the rebuttals by the public. Rep. Patricia Hymanson (D-York) said she believed LD 1919 ought not to pass. Deborah Sanderson (R-Chelsea) said she believed the bill could be saved by amending it to say “willfully or purposefully," but Rep. Colleen Madigan (D-Waterville) said, “How can we hold people criminally responsible when they are complying with the law and can’t get through on the phone?”  LD 1919 was voted Ought Not to Pass, 8-2.

LD 1920 also met with significant problems. Roger Katz, who was filling in for a member, said the due process argument swayed him. “I am uncomfortable with unsubstantiated claims being used as evidence in a case without any ability to cross-examine.” That section of the bill was removed, and the time unsubstantiated cases can remain on file for DHHS workers to refer to was altered to five years from the current 18 months. It passed, Ought to Pass, 7-1.

LD 1921 was amended so that the information must come from the Department of Public Safety. It passed, Ought to Pass, 8-0.

LD 1922 received a great deal of consideration during the work session and the public hearing, with many saying the plan “swung the pendulum," although Katz pointed out that one of the speakers said family reunifications had gone down by 23 percent. Kirsten Capeless, Acting Director of the Office of Child and Family Services, said the numbers vary, although reunification has gone down in a 12-month period and has gone up slightly in a 24-month period. More committee members had concerns about changing reunification policy, however, and the bill was reported out, Ought Not to Pass, 5 -3.

LD 1923 met the greatest number of challenges, primarily over whether or not to include new caseworker positions in favor of more supervisory staff. Capeless would not give guidance on adding caseworkers, which the department said it did not need, in spite of the large number of caseworkers who said at the hearing that more were needed, as well as the number of caseworkers the committee members had spoken to. Dale Deeno (D-Cumberland), said he considered it a “betrayal” to pass a bill without the caseworkers and case aides the caseworkers said they needed desperately. He moved to amend the bill to include 16 new caseworkers and eight case aides. After a nearly two-hour discussion, the bill was reported out, Ought to Pass as Amended, 6-2.

The House and Senate will take up the bills Thursday morning.