Legislature’s watchdog agency finds substantial errors in the case that led to child’s death

AUGUSTA – The systems and workers in Maine’s child welfare agencies had already failed Jaden Harding before his life even began, according to a critical report released today by the Legislature’s Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA). The report regarding the 2021 death of the six-week-old child in Brewer was reviewed in today’s meeting of the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee (GOC).

In its report, OPEGA found systemic failures in decision making by both caseworkers and other personnel at the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS), a division within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). OPEGA investigators also cited both specific and overarching issues regarding practices and methods within OCFS for recognizing patterns of unsafe and abusive conduct and identifying potentially dangerous individuals.

Outlining extended periods of no investigative activity and no comprehensive review of the family’s prior involvement with OCFS to the incorrect identification of an alleged abuser, OPEGA said the failures were supported by the explosive testimony heard the week before from caseworkers who appeared before GOC. In addition to being overworked, caseworkers also described a culture of intimidation and being “reviewed to death” when leadership may be at fault for the failures.

OPEGA’s report also supports similar findings by Maine’s Child Welfare Ombudsman Christine Alberi in her annual report to the Legislature earlier this year.

According to Sen. Lisa Keim, R-Oxford, the Senate Republican Lead for GOC, the report undermines months of denial by OCFS leadership that systems failed within the agency. It also supports the need for more access to confidential records, which is currently being sought through an appeal of the Legislature’s lawsuit to Maine’s highest court.

“This report makes obvious the need for the Government Oversight Committee to have access to complete records,” Keim said. “To better understand the inner workings of OCFS, and its clear failures, we need detailed records.”

For Sen. Jeff Timberlake, R-Androscoggin, who for years has been a proponent of removing OCFS from its parent agency into its own cabinet-level department, today’s report proves drastic change is needed. His bill to do that, LD 779, “An Act To Create a Separate Department of Child and Family Services,” was carried over to next year’s Second Regular Session.

“This report and the testimony we heard last week only shows OCFS – in its current structure and with its current leadership – cannot be allowed to continue,” he said. “To understand and be able to fix a problem, you first have to admit you have a problem. That’s what has been missing this whole time and today’s report is just more proof of that.”

GOC’s meetings will continue today with additional testimony of frontline caseworkers. The Committee will continue to meet throughout the fall and winter months before making recommendations based on its findings to the full Legislature.