Sen. Bailey introduces bill to support family services offered by the Office of Child and Family Services

AUGUSTA – On Tuesday, Sen. Donna Bailey, D-Saco, introduced a bill to implement a recommendation from Maine’s Child Welfare Advisory Panel (MCWAP), which Sen. Bailey serves on. LD 857, “An Act to Improve Family Team Meetings in Child Welfare Cases to Ensure Better Outcomes for Children by Providing Adequate Funding,” had a public hearing before the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee.

“As a member of the Child Welfare Advisory Panel, I have been able to participate in and work with the Panel’s subcommittee that was tasked with reviewing family team meeting policy and practice,” said Sen. Bailey. “In order to make recommendations for the improvement of family team meeting practice, there needs to be a system for data collection and analysis. Because this is the primary model for collaboration amongst the Office of Child and Family Services, families, and community providers during the child welfare process, it is essential that the State has way to monitor the process and find avenues for improvement.”

In 2002, the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) implemented family team meetings. In a child welfare case, family team meetings are the primary mode of collaboration between the state, community organizations, parents, and legal professionals involved in the case. Over the course of the last 20 years, there have been several revisions to policy and practice expectations. MCWAP charged a subcommittee, in partnership with OCFS, to convene and conduct an in-depth analysis of policies, procedures, and practices connected to Family Team Meetings.

LD 857 would direct and support OCFS to contract with an independent entity to develop a system for data collection and data analysis to support the ongoing evaluation of and quality assurance around the family team meeting model. The bill is in alignment with the goals that OCFS has set out for itself. In addition, OCFS has identified family team meetings as an opportunity for growth, as well as a strategic priority for the 2023-2026 period.

The bill faces further action in committee.

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