Child welfare oversight bill dies as Legislature adjourns

On the final day of the second regular session of the 132nd Maine Legislature, families, child care providers and state legislators gathered to make a final plea for a hotly contested bill that would have allowed lawmakers access to confidential child welfare records.

But before the bill could receive final votes, the Senate voted to adjourn for the year. Bill sponsor Sen. Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec) was one of three Senate Democrats who voted against adjournment.

“There are about 2,600 kids in DHHS right now counting on us to do our jobs,” said Sen. Jeff Timberlake (R-Androscoggin), encouraging his colleagues to vote against adjournment and consider the child welfare measure.

Hours after the upper chamber had concluded their business, the Maine House of Representatives came back briefly. Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Katrina Smith of Palermo said, “I don’t understand why we had a bill that passed in both houses, and it’s dying.” 

“When the next child dies in the custody of DHHS, it’s on the people that vote to adjourn at this time,” Smith added.

Families rally for oversight

Among those who rallied at the State House Wednesday was Victoria Vose, the grandmother of Maddox Williams, the three-year-old whose mother was charged with his killing in 2021. Vose called the failure to pass LD 127 “nothing short of infuriating.” 

Providing greater oversight of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the Office of Child and Family Services, would save dozens of children, she said, and could have saved her grandson.

“I live every day with the knowledge that his death was preventable, that someone could have stepped in, someone could have listened, someone could have cared enough to act, but they didn’t,” Vose said. “Maine has a chance to finally pull back the curtain on a system that has failed child after child.”

Like Vose, bipartisan proponents have argued Maine’s child welfare system needs a substantive overhaul, pointing to dozens of cases where children have faced abuse, neglect and violence, some of whom had active files within the Office of Child and Family Services.

After initially passing both chambers, on April 14, a majority of Democrats in the House backed a procedural maneuver that forced the bill to be reconsidered one last time. Returning to Augusta to vote on Gov. Janet Mills’ vetoed bills, the chamber once again took up the measure. 

Despite bipartisan support, two child welfare reforms unlikely to become law

On a motion by Rep. David Boyer (R-Poland), the House stripped the bill of its emergency clause, which requires a higher threshold of support. But despite pleas from supporters, the majority of the Senate voted to adjourn without taking up the legislation.

The bill would have given members of the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee access to confidential records, including case files of health department investigations into the child welfare system. Throughout the session, the bill received bipartisan support but was the subject of intense debate, with supporters emphasizing the urgent need for transparency and opponents concerned about the privacy of families whose sensitive information is in those records.

Several Democrats aligned with the majority of Republicans in support of the measure, with both chambers initially rejecting a more watered down version. 

Rep. Adam Lee (D-Auburn), who is a member of the oversight committee, joined Vose on Wednesday morning to advocate for LD 127.

“I want every tool possible in our toolbox to do the investigatory work that’s necessary to make sure that Augusta is not broken like Washington is broken,” he said.

No critics spoke against the bill Wednesday. But addressing the House before the April 14 vote, Rep. Dani O’Hallaran (D-Brewer) said she opposed the bill because it would allow politicians to access sensitive data beyond child welfare cases.

“Consider the privacy needs of our constituents; their confidential information should not be weaponized in political disputes,” she said at the time. “This bill would hand raw, sensitive files to untrained eyes and let them second guess professional judgments without any expertise to do it.”

One reform that was signed into law this session establishes an independent Office of the Child Advocate, which will offer more robust oversight over youth and child services. The child advocate will have the authority to access confidential information, receive and investigate complaints. The office will also be able to make recommendations and advise the governor and Maine Legislature on how to best serve the interests of children.

Another proposal that would have established a new Department of Child and Family Services, separate from DHHS, did not pass.