Executive Summary

Since 1995, the Children’s Cabinet has worked to foster a change in government systems to better serve the 300,000 youth under the age of 18 in Maine, with particular focus on collaboration and prevention programs. This Annual Report outlines the many results of this focus on collaboration and prevention and includes a work plan for the next fiscal year and longer-term challenges in each program area.

Until the last year, Maine enjoyed the best economic times in its history, making it possible for the state to make great strides for children and families. While poverty is the most salient predictor of negative outcomes for children and families, Maine leads the nation in a number of indicators of well being for children, families and communities.

·         In the last five years, the state has been ranked in the top five in the country as the best state to raise a child.

·         Maine has the fourth highest rate of children with health insurance in the country. Only 6% of Maine’s youth are without healthcare.

·         Comprehensive services for juvenile offenders has led Maine to be tied for the third lowest rate in the country of juveniles detained or committed in the system.

·       Maine consistently places at the top (2nd in 2001) of Education Week's national rankings of states in the quality of school climate characterized by: small class size; low behavior problems; high student engagement; strong parent involvement; high attendance; local autonomy.

We can be proud of our accomplishments, which include:

·         Decreased out-of-state placements of children from 250 to 90.

·         69 Communities representing 319 municipalities have mobilized to create local leadership Councils as part of the Communities for Children initiative.

·         Maine's Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) caseloads are the lowest since the late 1960s and the rate of families returning to the TANF Program is a low 6%.

·         Development of in-home behavioral health services serving over 1900 children.

 

However, these strengths need to be preserved, as there is data to suggest that our greatest strengths ­ stable families and communities ­ are facing increased pressures under the current economic conditions. At the systems level, we have had mixed success over the last ten years with some positive accomplishments and some setbacks in the movement towards a coherent approach to promoting the well-being of children and families.

In 1995, Governor King established the Children’s Cabinet (comprise of the Commissioners of Corrections, Education, Human Services, Public Safety, and Behavioral and Developmental Services) and charged the group with collaborating to improve services for children and families. The result has been a number of initiatives from increased cooperation (e.g. bringing children back to Maine from out-of-state placements), to collaboration on such initiatives as Communities for Children, Integrated Case Management, and Maine Marks. In 1999, the Children’s Cabinet was formalized by statute, along with the Council on Children and Families, whose membership includes the Children’s Cabinet, the Chief Justice and members of the legislature. In addition, legislation was enacted to require child-serving departments to collaborate in the design and implementation of a children’s mental health program. A legislative committee was created to oversee this collaborative process.

Children’s Cabinet Highlights

Communities for Children (C4C) is a flagship initiative of the Governor’s Children's Cabinet. C4C supports and increases good outcomes for children and promotes positive child and youth development. It has now grown to include 69 local leadership councils made up of key leaders in the community, including youth, and representing 319 municipalities and over 70% of the State’s population. These Councils assess the realities facing children and youth in their communities, develop prevention programs and policies, and track the results of their work. The statewide initiative helps these communities by providing training, technical assistance, and opportunities for networking with each other.

Integrated Case Management (ICMS) brings together family members with all their service providers to develop a comprehensive family plan and to coordinate services. An Integrated Case Management Policy Agreement has been developed to promote statewide use of this model. Over 100 volunteer facilitators have been trained to coordinate the meetings and to provide a neutral contact for the families.

Regional Children’s Cabinets have worked to highlight the plight of Youth Who Are Homeless and to develop services to meet their needs, which include a rapid response to youth, within the first 24 hours of their becoming homeless, coupled with an assessment of a youth’s issues and the development of safety plans with youth and their families. This RCC initiative has significantly reduced the number of children on the streets or in shelters.

Local Case Review/Resolution Committees (LCRC) are located in each county in the State and are a resource for families to access when they have a unique need that cannot be satisfied through any system already in existence. Each committee hears cases submitted by family members, agency representatives, teachers, or other sources, and makes a decision on a case-by-case basis. The LCRC members represent many different agencies and can refer the family to available resources. In a few cases, the LCRC can provide limited funds to provide services needed to avoid an out-of-home placement for a child. Prior to accessing LCRC funds, the family must exhaust all other resources available to them. LCRCs are allocated a small pool of funds available, to assist in meeting structural gaps and needs in the system of care for children and families, from funds which are pooled for these purposes from each of the five Children’s Cabinet Departments.

Maine Marks, a report highlighting data about the state of children and families in Maine was released by the Children’s Cabinet in February 2001. Maine Marks highlights 79 indicator areas, such as #51, Youth success after leaving the juvenile justice system, and #63, Youth living in homeless or emergency shelters. A follow-up report will be released in the Summer 2002. In the coming years, trends tracked in Maine Marks will be helpful in measuring Maine’s success in prevention and collaboration.

Our final highlight is that the Bureau of Human Resources is exploring the inclusion of “collaboration” as a core competency for state workers. This is further evidence that the Children’s Cabinet structure is having an impact on the climate of the participating Departments as originally envisioned.

Children’s Cabinet Next Steps

While many improvements have been made, much remains to be done. Prevention and collaboration efforts need to be expanded and adopted as the standard government operating strategy. To accomplish all of the goals outlined in this Annual Report, the Children’s Cabinet must continue to play a leadership role in the prevention and collaboration efforts in children’s policy and programs. The recommendations of the Children’s Cabinet’s are:

1. Strengthen the Children’s Cabinet as the interdepartmental structure that focuses on prevention, cooperation and collaboration.

• Designate one Senior Level Staff member from the Governor’s Office as a Children’s Cabinet Liaison (and possibly as chair).
• Assure the Children’s Cabinet has strong leadership and sufficient staff to carry out its mission.
• Amend Children’s Cabinet statute to include the Department of Labor.

2. Strengthen the Regional Children’s Cabinets as the interdepartmental structure that focuses on prevention, cooperation and collaboration at the regional and operational level.

• Continue the use of Pooled Flexible Funding to identify and overcome systems gaps and service barriers to families.
• Continue use of the Local Case Review/Resolution Committees.
• Continue to support the Youth Who Are Homeless programs.

3. Strengthen the following Children’s Cabinet Initiatives.

• Bolster Communities for Children assuring it has adequate resources and that every community is a Community for Children.
• Fully implement the Integrated Case Management Policy Agreement and programming statewide to better serve families in need.
• Continue to expand Maine Marks and report the indicators of progress towards goals of well being for children, families, and communities.
• Coordinated Coalition Management to ensure the coordination and communication among all local and statewide prevention coalitions for better prevention planning.

4. Continue to develop the following programs under the leadership of the Children’s Cabinet for future adoption by a lead department or other entity.

·       Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment

·       Promoting Educational Success for all Youth

o      Healthy Learners

o      Youth who are expelled

o      Hospital to School transition

o      Improve educational outcomes for children in out-of-home care

·       Gender Specific Juvenile Programming

·       Maine Mentoring Partnership

·       Youth Violence Prevention

·       Family Support Programs

5. Continue to support the following programs which have an interdepartmental focus; are coordinated by a lead department; and, are monitored by the Children’s Cabinet.

·       Youth Who Are Homeless

·       Youth Suicide Prevention

·       Early Care & Education

·       Restorative Justice

6. Explore pursuing a children’s policy agenda using the forum of the Council on Children & Families, which brings together the Legislative, Judicial and Executive Branches of Government.

Structures and Priority Programs of the Children’s Cabinet