100s of kids await mental health help in Maine

While I do believe that the mental health system is partly a scam, I am a parent who has been in this position with a very difficult child.  It took her being hospitalized, and getting involved with the juvenile justice system to make any of this happen.  Parents shouldn't have to struggle like this.

Hundreds of kids are awaiting mental health services in Maine and many are waiting months. 

The Bangor Daily News reports 336 young people are waiting for home- and community-based treatment under the state's Medicaid program. Over a quarter of those kids have been waiting longer than three months as of April 27. 

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LePage’s plan to put kids in a new kind of psychiatric institution

Gov. Paul LePage’s administration has taken the first steps toward creating a new kind of psychiatric facility in Maine for children and teenagers with intensive mental health needs, in a move that defies decades of state policy and at a time when community services are more difficult to access.

The administration last month released two sets of proposed rules that would govern psychiatric residential treatment facilities and how much the facilities’ operators would be paid to run them.

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Public Hearing to Be Held on Maine Child Abuse Deaths Report

A Maine oversight committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on a report about an investigation into the state's handling of two cases in which abused children died.

The Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability presented findings to the Government Oversight Committee last week. The Government Oversight Committee's holding the hearing Thursday.

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DHHS quietly overhauls aid for children, adults in crisis

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services last month quietly overhauled a statewide emergency service that’s supposed to be available around the clock for children and adults experiencing suicidal thoughts, severe bouts of depression, crippling anxiety or any other mental health crisis.

The first realignment of Maine’s network of mental health crisis services in two decades came without public engagement and with limited preparation. The department says it doesn’t expect to save money as a result of the move, but a change in how it’s paying for the service has some of the private agencies that provide it unsure they can afford to continue providing it long-term.

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Youth Prison Watchdog Calls For Audit Of Medical Contractor

A private health care company that treats inmates at Maine’s youth prison has come under scrutiny in a new report from the facility’s independent oversight group.

The watchdog report also echoes cries for a comprehensive review of the state systems that have filled the South Portland prison with young people battling mental illnesses.

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Gov. LePage, DHHS respond to OPEGA report findings

Governor Paul LePage has issued a response to the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability report about the findings of the first phase of their investigation into the Department of Health and Human Services handling of the deaths of two Maine children at the hands of their caretakers.

The investigation was ordered by the Government Oversight Committee March 9, following the December death of Kendall Chick, and the Feb. 25 death of 10-year old Marissa Kennedy. Kendall was reportedly killed after suffering abuse at the hands of her grandfather’s then-fiance, Shawna Gatto. Marissa suffered a prolonged and violent death at the hands of her mother and stepfather, Sharon and Julio Carrillo.

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Portland public schools say they won’t report students to immigration enforcement

Officials from Portland Public Schools are telling the community that they will not report students to immigration enforcement officials, and say their schools are a “safe haven” for children and families.

In a written message to families last week, Portland Supt. Xavier Botana said, “We want your children in our schools. We don’t care what their immigration status is. And we believe that that’s not just the right thing to do, but that’s also the law.”

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