Maine-AWARE could bring more mental health resources to schools

Maine is developing a new framework to assist with student mental health needs through collaboration between providers of education and health.

The Maine Department of Education says the initiative is called Maine-AWARE, which stands for Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education. The department says it has received a $5.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services toward the project.

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• Maine has new plan to address student mental health needs

Increasing Minimum Wage Has Lifted 10,000 Kids From Poverty, Maine Study Finds

Debates around minimum wage continue to dominate politics, as local movements branch into powerful national pushes for better wages and working conditions. It's an important discussion for adults to have, but where do kids weigh in? A new Maine study recently found that increasing minimum wage has lifted 10,000 kids from poverty.

Minimum wage is complicated to discuss, because it has both state and federal standards. As of 2018, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which the Department of Labor noted as going into effect on July 24, 2009. When it comes to states, though, minimum wage can vary greatly.

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We're Number 1 : Maine has highest percentage of children living in low-income young families

The "Kids Count" report from the Casey Foundation finds 85 percent of Maine children with young parents live in low-income families. It's the highest percentage compared to other states.

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Maine schools step up efforts to prevent sexual abuse of young children

Elementary schools throughout the state will spend the 2018-19 academic year implementing a new policy to improve their ability to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse.


Prompted by a 2015 law that required a new model to be implemented by July 1, 2016, the Department of Education and the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault ( MECASA) have created a model policy for school administrators to adopt this year. The policy also provides pre-kindergarten through grade 5 students with age-appropriate child sexual abuse prevention education.

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Feds: Medication plans for foster children lacking

Nearly 30 percent of foster children in Maine who were prescribed powerful psychiatric drugs did not receive a basic “treatment plan” or regular reviews of their medications, a federal investigation has found.

Just shy of one-third of children in foster care in Maine during the period reviewed by federal investigators were prescribed anti-depressants, drugs to treat anxiety and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders or other “psychotropic” medications. The proportion of Maine foster children receiving such drugs — 1,155 of the 3,527 children in foster care, or 32.7 percent — was well above the 22.2 percent national average for the analyzed period, ranking Maine fifth behind North Dakota, Virginia, New Hampshire and Iowa.

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DHHS to review failures of Maine’s mental health treatment for kids

The LePage administration has hired a private consulting firm to lead a wholesale review of how the state provides mental health services to children and where the state’s services are falling short.

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The Latest: Maine lawmakers pass teacher misconduct bill

Maine schools would have to alert the state about investigations into teacher misconduct under a bill headed to the governor's desk.

The Senate and House unanimously approved the bill Thursday.

Republican Gov. Paul LePage submitted the bill, which aims to address the issue of Maine educators who are accused of misconduct, and who then resign while maintaining their teaching credential.

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