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Maine officials update lawmakers on child safety and family-well‑being plan; prevention metrics remain hard to prove
Summary
State officials told the Health and Human Services committee that Maine's Child Safety and Family Well‑Being Plan is expanding peer learning, community collaboratives and a parent-led outreach effort called Be There For Me, while acknowledging challenges measuring prevention outcomes and sustaining paid promotion.
At a January meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services, state and partner representatives updated lawmakers on Maine's Child Safety and Family Well‑Being Plan, emphasizing upstream prevention, community collaboration and outreach to connect families with supports.
Mariette Aborn, special projects manager for child and family well‑being at the Department of Health and Human Services, said the plan'now in its fourth year emphasizes promotion of family strengths as much as preventing harm. "This movement is really focused on what we want to promote within families and not just what we want to prevent," Aborn said.
The plan is organized around two goals and five strategies that range from economic and concrete supports to improved coordination among state and community partners. Presenters described a recent peer‑learning trip to other jurisdictions and a four‑region convening (Millinocket, Farmington, Saco and Rockland) intended to surface locally led opportunities and avoid creating duplicative partnerships.
Melissa Hackett, policy associate with Maine Children's Alliance and coordinator for the Maine Child Welfare Action Network, acknowledged measurement challenges. "Prevention is hard to prove," she told legislators, noting jurisdictions measure protective factors and changes in family circumstances rather than the absence of future crises.
Presenters also updated the committee on Be There For Me, a public‑facing outreach and resource website aimed at lowering stigma and making it easier for caregivers to find support. The campaign'which materials are available in English and 12 other languages'maintains a website and a cadre of eight trained parent representatives who do community outreach. Staff said website traffic rose when the campaign had paid promotion, and that paid promotion has ended pending appropriations; they also said nearly 30,000 rack cards and other printed materials have been distributed to community partners.
On mandated reporting, presenters described a redesign of the statutorily required core training (currently every four years) and plans for sector‑specific modules for medical providers, educators and law enforcement. They also noted a statutory clarification that family poverty is not child abuse or neglect, which took effect in September 2024; panelists said OCFS is updating training and caseworker guidance to reflect that change.
Committee members asked how Maine will measure success and sustain outreach. Officials said a mix of qualitative and quantitative measures'including protective‑factor assessments at family resource centers and follow‑up interviews with families served'will be part of planned implementation reporting. The core team plans a year‑one implementation update for release early this year.
Next steps: presenters said they will share more detailed performance data and a memo with examples from jurisdictions visited; a legislative proposal on one‑time funding for additional paid promotion of Be There For Me remains on the appropriations table.
