After Deaths, Dhhs Adds Tasks For Child Protective Workers Without Increasing Workforce

More than two decades ago, Maine deployed a new and less intrusive approach for handling child welfare cases where the allegations of child abuse and neglect weren’t so clear cut and the risk of continued abuse appeared low. The idea behind the approach, called alternative response, was that it would be less adversarial and more collaborative than a full-fledged investigation by a Child Protective Services caseworker — and that keeping the family together when possible would lead to a better outcome. Now, following the deaths of two children, the LePage administration has taken away some of the alternative response providers’ flexibility and authority to handle cases in favor of having state child protective workers intervene. Meanwhile, the administration hasn’t indicated that it plans to add to a staff of child protective workers who had already seen their workloads increase 55 percent between 2010 and 2016 — well before a recent spike in new abuse reports following the two deaths, and before DHHS started assigning them some alternative response cases. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services said having child protective investigators reopen cases that alternative response providers were handling will allow it to catch more children in potential danger. But specialists said it’s unlikely the investigators will have more success.