Maine lawmakers want a say in latest effort to revamp services for at-risk children

The Judiciary Committee today will hold public hearings on two bills that would reverse a 2018 law in order to prioritize family reunification in Maine’s child welfare system. A third bill also up for a public hearing today in the committee from Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, would establish an investigative commission of lawmakers and experts who will present research and proposed reforms to the child welfare system.

The reunification bills, proposed by Rep. Lori Gramlich, D-Old Orchard Beach, and Rep. Patty Hymanson, D-York, would restore language stripped by former Gov. Paul LePage and the 128th Legislature last August, after the deaths of 10-year-old Marissa Kennedy and 4-year-old Kendall Chick, allegedly at the hands of Kennedy’s parents and Chick’s caregiver.

More >> Maine lawmakers want a say in latest effort to revamp services for at-risk children

Maine schools under pressure amid spike in youth homelessness

Maine is seeing a growing number of young people, from preschool through 12th grade, who are homeless or displaced. They are moving into shelters, couch surfing with other families and, in rare cases, camping or living in cars. According to the National Center for Homeless Education the number of homeless youth increased by 30 percent in just two years.

More >> Maine schools under pressure amid spike in youth homelessness

‘The smallest amount of effort could have saved this child’

Evidence that emerged during the murder trial of Shawna Gatto shows that the system failed 4-year-old Kendall Chick long before she died of suspected child abuse. But important details remain elusive.

More >> ‘The smallest amount of effort could have saved this child’

Bill to strip Maine vaccination exemptions moves ahead despite GOP opposition

A bill that would repeal nonmedical exemptions to Maine school immunization requirements won a split legislative committee’s backing on Wednesday, putting the measure supported by Gov. Janet Mills’ administration on track to pass.

The proposal from Rep. Ryan Tipping, D-Orono, yielded the longest public hearing of the legislative session in March, with nearly 1,700 people filing written testimony to the Legislature’s education committee. That included hundreds of opponents who cited parental rights or pseudoscientific arguments overstating the risks of vaccination.

More >> Bill to strip Maine vaccination exemptions moves ahead despite GOP opposition

DHHS: Unsafe sleeping cause of half of child deaths in Maine

Officials with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services say 26 children have died in Maine over the past two years.

More >> DHHS: Unsafe sleeping cause of half of child deaths in Maine

DHHS says it’s moving to make kids safer, after report shows 26 deaths since 2017

Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday it is taking immediate action to improve child safety following the report of 26 child deaths since 2017.

The department said in a statement it would launch a public awareness campaign about unsafe sleep environments for children, especially infants, noting that 48 of 107 child deaths from 2014 to 2019 were related to unsafe sleeping situations.

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And even they suck at it...

A new Annie E. Casey Foundation report shows that more young people in foster care have been placed with families than in group homes over the last decade – and Maine is leading the way.

In 2017, Maine placed 94% of foster children in family settings, making it one of the top six states in the country. Maine also has a higher share of teens living with families.

More >> Report: Maine Leads in Placing Foster Youth with Families

Vaccination rates continue to drop among Maine schoolchildren

Vaccination rates among schoolchildren continued to drop in Maine this school year, when the share of kindergartners receiving one required vaccine dropped for the third straight year, according to data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The share of kindergartners vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella dropped from 94.3 percent in the last school year to 93.8 percent statewide, and the share of schoolchildren citing nonmedical exemptions from vaccine requirements rose from 5 percent to 5.6 percent.

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