LePage slashed the number of Mainers who rely on state assistance. Here are the results

At the end of this article, they talk about changes LePage has made to the Child Welfare (CPS) System in Maine.   This is a sugar coated version. 

During his eight years in office, Gov. Paul LePage has pushed to streamline state government and reduce spending. His path to achieving that objective has cut through the state’s safety net programs, from trimming the number of Mainers who receive food assistance to cutbacks at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

More >> LePage slashed the number of Mainers who rely on state assistance. Here are the results

National report: Maine ranks 16th in protecting kids from tobacco

Maine ranks 16th nationwide in funding programs that prevent kids from using tobacco and help smokers quit, according to a new report by leading public health groups. Maine is spending $4.8 million this year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is just 30.4% of the $15.9 million recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report — "Broken Promises to Our Children: A State-by-State Look at the 1998 Tobacco Settlement 20 Years Later" — was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights and Truth Initiative.

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News conference set for Monday in case of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds

The lawyer for missing toddler Ayla Reynolds’ mother says he plans to hold a news conference Monday in Portland to talk about what he plans to do next in the case.

William Childs, of the law firm Childs Rundlett Fifield & Altshuler, in Portland, said he and Ayla’s mother, Trista Reynolds, will make brief statements and then take questions.

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Janet Mills Announces Pick To Lead Maine DHHS

A Maine native who worked in health policy in both the Obama and Clinton administrations has been nominated to be the state’s next commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services.

At a press conference in Augusta on Friday, Gov.-elect Janet Mills announced that Jeanne Lambrew is her pick to lead DHHS, which has been racked by controversy over child abuse deaths, Medicaid expansion, welfare reform and the opioid crisis.

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Head of Maine’s botched unemployment system named to top child welfare post

The state employee who led the scrutinized launch of a new unemployment system is Maine’s new top child welfare official.

The Bangor Daily News reports that former unemployment compensation bureau director John Feeney started work Monday as chief operating officer of the state Office of Child and Family Services.

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An idiot in charge of assholes.

Maine lawmaker wants to limit childhood vaccination exemptions

Some Mainers are gearing up for a fight over the future of the state’s philosophical exemption for childhood vaccinations, a battle that is expected to play out during the upcoming legislative session. That’s because many Maine families are choosing against vaccinating their children, and some lawmakers would like to change that. Nationally, nearly 2 percent of parents chose not to immunize their kindergartners for non-medical reasons last year. In Maine, 5 percent of parents of public and private school children decided against immunization, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

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