Maine child welfare officials failed to complete all requirements in 94% of abuse or neglect investigations between October 2021 and September 2022, according to a report. audit of the federal inspector general released this week.

The most common failures were failing to complete safety assessments within 72 hours, failing to complete surveys within 35 days, and failing to notify parents or guardians of a result within 10 days.

Bobbi Johnson, Director of the Maine Office of Children and Family Services Maine Department of Health and Human Services

Although the audit adds to a series of critical reports on the Office of Children and Family Services, two full years have passed since the end of the audit period, so many of the Issues cited have been resolved or are in progress. to be addressed.

Bobbi Johnson, the office’s director, acknowledged the challenge of keeping morale high in an agency that has been scrutinized perhaps more than any other in state government.

“Just this morning I met with the Rockland staff and we talked about it,” she said in an interview Wednesday. “Our responsibility is to learn from these audits and reviews, from all the feedback we receive from different stakeholders about how we can improve our systems in ways that lead to truly positive outcomes for children. »

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General initiated this audit to help determine states’ compliance with the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), which provides funding.

Maine was chosen as the first state to be audited, in part because of a report from Maine’s child welfare ombudsman that identified a gap in best practices. But Tammy Levesque, deputy regional inspector, said the federal agency also found that Maine ranked high in risk assessment categories including poverty, maltreatment recurrence percentage and infant mortality rate .

“We wanted to look at the process when someone calls to report child abuse or neglect to make sure it’s working as intended,” she said. “The bottom line here: We conducted this work because this population is very vulnerable.”

Each time a report of child abuse or neglect is made, it is referred to an Office of Children and Family Services staff member to determine whether the claim should be substantiated. If so, a thorough investigation begins.

The audit reviewed more than 10,000 reports between October 2021 and September 2022, then selected a random sample of 100 reports to examine more closely.

Although Maine is required by law to implement a program that includes procedures for immediate monitoring, risk and safety assessment, and investigation of reports, the office has only met all requirements in six of these 100 cases.

“Failure to comply with requirements endangers the health and safety of children,” the audit said.

The most common failure – in 92 out of 100 cases – was failing to send a written notification letter to a parent or guardian within 10 days of an investigation.

Perhaps the most important finding of the audit is that in 59 out of 100 reports, supervisors did not complete a safety assessment within 72 hours of the initial setting with a social worker. These assessments are used to determine whether a child can safely remain in a home.

“Having proper documentation is just as important as ensuring the steps in the process have been completed,” said Lévesque. “This helps supervisors make timely and informed decisions to keep children safe. »

Johnson said some of those gaps were attributable to staff learning a new data entry system.

Another area of ​​concern was that 44 out of 100 cases had investigations that were not completed within the 35 days required by law.

Johnson said it was also something that came up during an internal review of the department and led the agency to extend the deadline from 35 to 45 days to reflect the complexity of child welfare investigations.

Levesque said the Maine Office of Children and Family Services cooperated throughout the audit.

“They have been very open and supportive of all the recommendations,” she said.

The audit suggests that Maine follow up with a progress report in six months.

“We hope Maine continues to improve by taking action in response to our report and implementing our recommendations. And we hope that other states will take note and take proactive measures,” Lévesque said.

Recommendations include providing additional training to social workers and supervisors on reporting requirements and developing written policies requiring supervisors to review and approve documentation and more closely monitor social worker reports.

Johnson said she is confident that all of these recommendations will be followed.

THE PROBLEMS ARE NOT NEW

Maine’s child welfare system has long been a concern for policymakers, but current challenges date back to late 2017 and early 2018.

The deaths of Kendall Chick, 4, in Wiscasset, and Marissa Kennedy, 10, in Stockton Springs, prompted lawmakers and then-Gov. Paul LePage will introduce reforms to improve child safety.

Chick had been removed from her mother’s care and placed with her paternal grandfather and his partner, Shawna Gatto. But social workers failed to monitor the girl’s care, and she later died as a result of abuse by Gatto, who is currently serving a 50-year prison sentence.

In Kennedy’s case, child welfare officials had visited his home six times in the four months before his death to investigate allegations of abuse. Two days before her death, a social worker said she noticed bruising but believed the girl’s parents when they said they were self-inflicted.

These two cases highlighted conflicting challenges for the Office of Children and Family Services: They did not have enough staff to handle the volume of neglect and abuse reports, but they were also at grappling with inconsistent expectations about when children should be removed.

The office received more resources starting in 2018 – new social worker positions and a pay increase for those already there. As the agency began implementing more reforms, including better training, a new wave of child deaths in 2021 – four in the span of a month – gave rise to additional internal and external investigationssome of which lasted this year.

Additionally, the number of Maine children placed in state custody to protect them from suspected abuse or neglect reached its highest level in two decadeswhich adds to the pressure placed on social workers responsible for ensuring the safety of children and on caregivers who care for children at risk.

But Johnson believes his agency is making improvements in a difficult environment, many of which are beyond the control of its employees.

“One of my responsibilities is to share positive work and we work with many more families where we impact positively than negatively,” she said.

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