Good morning from Augusta. Gov. Paul LePage said on Thursday that he won’t put forward a proposed slate of child welfare system reforms until the Legislature finishes stalled work that has kept it in session deep into 2018 — a dispute for which there’s no end in sight.
The Republican governor is offering variations on the same, difficult deal to wrap up other work. After the Legislature’s watchdog panel probed the deaths of two Maine girls allegedly killed by caregivers, LePage previewed a package of proposed reforms to the system, including steering the state away somewhat from a policy of family reunification, fixing an outdated computer system for tracking cases and criminalizing failure to comply with mandatory reporting statutes.
In a Thursday radio address, the governor also said he wants to “improve staff training, reduce turnover, and prevent burnout of caseworkers.” But he said that changes to child welfare law won’t be proposed until the Legislature finishes other delayed work for 2018.
To read the rest of “LePage: Legislative stalemate stalls child welfare reforms,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Michael Shepherd, please follow this link to the BDN online.
