A system with a reputation for not responding to reports of child abuse or neglect will be the focus of new legislation coming from Gov. Paul LePage, Maine’s health and human services chief told lawmakers on Tuesday.
LePage will propose creating a new child protective services intake unit and replacing an aging computer system within the Department of Health and Human Services in legislation that Human Services Commissioner Ricker Hamilton said would be presented to the Legislature soon. The bill could also include new requirements for reporting child abuse and penalties for failing to do so, end the practice of using private intake services and de-emphasize reuniting or keeping families together.
To read the rest of “DHHS chief rejects idea that Maine’s child protective system is ‘broken’,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Christopher Cousins, please follow this link to the BDN online.
