Maine officials present expanded Child Safety and Family Well-being Plan, highlight prevention work and community campaigns

Good afternoon. State officials and community partners on Oct. 12 laid out Maine’s updated Child Safety and Family Well‑Being Plan, a five‑year roadmap the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Maine Child Welfare Action Network say is intended to reduce later child welfare involvement by strengthening families earlier.

The plan’s authors and presenters — Mariette Aborn, Special Projects Manager for Child and Family Well‑Being at DHHS; Christine Theriault, Program Manager for Family First Prevention Services; and Melissa Hackett, coordinator of the Maine Child Welfare Action Network — told the Health and Human Services Committee the plan centers parents, caregivers and communities and maps five strategies to two goals focused on prevention, timely access to services, family partnership and improved coordination between state and local partners.

The presenters said the first strategy prioritizes concrete economic supports—food, housing, child care, transportation and cash assistance—because material hardship is a major driver of crisis that can prompt…