The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) continues to work to improve prevention, the delivery of care in our communities, and treatment for those in crisis as well as those with persistent behavioral health challenges. Over the course of our work, DHHS will post updates to this page on efforts relating to the improvement of behavioral health services (which include mental health and substance use disorder services) in the state.
News and Updates
- February 19, 2020 – Op-Ed, Morning Sentinel/Kennebec Journal, “Commissioner Lambrew and Commissioner Liberty: Working together to reach Maine people at risk and in crisis” (PDF).
- December 23, 2019 – Blog post: Improving options for crisis care and treatment with medication.
- September 30, 2019 – News Release: Commissioner Lambrew Announces New Director for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services.
- September 26, 2019 – Op-Ed, Portland Press Herald, “DHHS commissioner: Maine’s mental health system needs work – and it’s already begun” (PDF) .
Publications, Materials, and Presentations
- February 12, 2020 – Coordination Across State Government - Fact Sheet. Under the Mills Administration, numerous actions have been taken across Departments to reach Maine people at risk and in crisis.
- November 1, 2019 – Director Jessica Pollard presented SAMHS’ Behavioral Health Priorities and Preliminary Plans to the Mental Health Work Group.
Map and Match Project
DHHS has embarked on a project to better understand and address the gaps in Maine’s behavioral health system. That starts with mapping our capacity to provide treatment at different levels of care and settings. The following maps, created by Pew Charitable Trust using publicly available data and data shared by DHHS, depict the behavioral health provider community across the state, including providers of medication-assisted treatment, the capacity of licensed behavioral health agencies, and recovery residences. Pew also conducted a review of approaches that other states have used to map the capacity of behavioral health treatment providers and connect patients with appropriate care.
The next phase of the initiative, or "match" part, is identifying the human and technical solutions that will allow individuals to be quickly connected with the appropriate care.