Maine lawmakers are again considering whether to establish an independent Office of the Child Advocate to help reform the state’s troubled child welfare system.
The Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee unanimously supported a proposal to create the independent agency, which will offer more robust oversight over youth and child services. If approved by both chambers, the office modeled on New Hampshire’s child welfare agency would be established by next year.
The child advocate would have the authority to access confidential information, receive and investigate complaints. The office would also be able to make recommendations and advise the governor and Maine Legislature on how to best serve the interests of children.
The proposal would replace Maine’s existing child welfare ombudsman system. Christine Alberi, Maine’s current child ombudsman, told the committee last spring that the bill “preserves and incorporates” the current model while adding other necessary oversight functions.
Preservation is important, she said in her testimony, because many similar offices in other states do not analyze enough cases to see trends that guide improvements to child welfare.
However, establishing the new office would facilitate investigations of children’s well-being in residential treatment programs as well as the Long Creek Youth Development Center, the state’s last remaining youth prison, “helping to ensure that our most vulnerable youth are safe and receiving effective services,” Alberi said.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which houses the state’s current child welfare agency, the Office of Child and Family Services, said at the public hearing that it would like more time to consider the proposal because of the “extensive reach” it could have throughout state government. This could extend beyond the health department, to departments of education, corrections, or any other agency providing or arranging services on behalf of a child.
The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Oversight and root causes
Amid renewed scrutiny, there have been multiple attempts in recent years to restructure the state’s child welfare system. This has included multiple failed legislative attempts to separate the Office of Child and Family Services from the health department.
Two years ago OCFS frontline workers came forward with accounts of onerous workloads that culminated in December 2024 with a letter of no confidence in the agency’s leadership.
The bill language presents a shift from policing state agencies to promoting better practices, according to experts.
Melissa Hackett, coordinator of the Maine Child Welfare Action Network, said last session that she prefers the proposed Office of Child Advocate model because it does not solely focus on the child welfare system.
“This office taking that bigger picture view felt more promising to me than some of the other proposals that have really, in my opinion … felt reactionary,” Hackett said.
Like Alberi, Hackett said she appreciates that the new office would build upon the oversight provided by the existing child welfare ombudsman office, while having the ability to explore the root causes that could lead a family to being involved with the system.
That could create what Hackett described as a “both-and” approach to provide oversight and address the systemic factors like substance use disorder or mental health that can bring a family in contact with the child welfare system. But she said that will require public and political will to understand what is really happening with children and families.
Hackett said the proposed child advocate would be able “to really look up from a high level down at what’s happening on the ground to see these trends and to not be singularly focused on one incident or case but to be able to look across those trends to say, ‘This is what we need to really address and this is how we address it to stem the flow of these kids coming into these systems.’”
