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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It's A New School Year, And Maine Schools Are Taking New Safety Measures

It's A New School Year, And Maine Schools Are Taking New Safety Measures
In the wake of the fatal school shooting in Parkland, Florida earlier this year, schools across Maine are taking steps to respond and increasing security measures.

Some are adding security cameras, some are stocking tourniquets, and several have hired new school resource officers to patrol the hallways. While supporters of these new positions say they help make the community feel more secure, civil liberties advocates say the increased police presence could bring its own negative consequences.

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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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