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About Us - Child and Family ServicesJames Beougher, Director, Office of Child and Family Services Dan Despard, Director, Child Welfare Joan Smyrski, Director, Children's Behavioral Health Patti Wooley, Director, Early Childhood Christa Elwell, Director, Public Service Management Last year, Child and Family Services received more than 17,000 new reports of child abuse or neglect. We look into child abuse reports on behalf of Maine communities, working to keep children safe and to guide families in creating safe homes for children. About 85 percent of the families we see need voluntary, community-based services to develop a safe and more stable home. The remaining 15 percent require court intervention, either to order specific action to make a situation safe or because the children cannot live where they are without danger of serious harm. When those circumstances arise, our child protective and children's services professionals find a setting for care - places that help a child who has experienced abuse or neglect and that become the child's bridge to a safe, permanent home. Maine communities are the essential link for these children. Skilled foster families and other professional resources from Eliot to Fort Kent offer their patience and care. Child and Family Services guides the effort. Our professional staff works to safely reunify families when possible, to explore options for care with extended family (kinship care), and to evaluate foster and adoptive homes. In our work, Child and Family Services seeks safety, well-being and permanent homes for children, working with professionalism and respecting the dignity of all families. |
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