AUGUSTA, Maine — State leaders are working to create a robust plan to prevent child abuse in Maine.
On Thursday, Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew was joined by lawmakers, police, and child abuse prevention providers inside the Maine State House to discuss how the state is working to improve care for families in need.
"Keeping families strong is the best way to keep kids safe," Lambrew said.
Child abuse and neglect have been at the forefront in Maine in recent years following a string of well-documented child deaths that have prompted criticism of how Maine DHHS was supporting families and preventing serious instances of child abuse.
Lambrew said Maine DHHS and the service providers it works with will be working diligently over the coming weeks and months to craft a plan to prevent child abuse.
She said there are other efforts going on as well to support Maine families, including improving the DHHS systems, like hiring more case workers, increasing support services for children, and improving the coordination of those services.
"We know that going all the way to the beginning to try and provide them the resources, the education, the support if they're struggling, if they need help with food so their family gets fed," Lambrew said. "Helping us go to the front of the system to figure out how do we prevent child maltreatment in the first place is probably the most important thing we can do."
Service providers, like the nonprofit Maine Children's Trust, work with organizations across Maine to provide services for families and prevent abuse. The Maine Families Home Visiting program is one leader hoping to continue offering to even more families.
The program connects trained experts with young parents to help support them in their parenting journey.
"We want to be equitable and get services to families in every county, whether that's in Portland, Maine or up in the country, we want to make sure all families can access services," Heidi Aakjer, executive director of the Maine Children's Trust said, which works alongside Maine Families to run the program.
State leaders hope working and bolstering resources for families can reduce child abuse and stop it before it can happen.
"We have a strong network of folks who really meet people where they're at," Aakjer said.
Other improvements Lambrew said she and her staff hope to implement include increasing the number of foster families in Maine, expanding pre-K programs, and improving mental health crisis services for children and parents.