In Maine, more and more families are, literally, defense-less

The Maine State Capitol

Things keep getting worse in Maine, a state that once was on the verge of having a model “child welfare” system. Dreadful decisions by two governors and vile grandstanding from one current and one former public official plunged the state into foster-care panic.  So it should come as no surprise that more and more families are literally defense-less. 

The Maine Monitor has an excellent story about this.  The monitor reports that many parents wait weeks or months for a defense attorney even to be assigned – dramatically prolonging children’s time in foster care.  In one case, no lawyer was assigned for 281 days.  From the story: 

Parents who wish to maintain custody of their children are fighting against a system that a recent federal audit found failed to follow its own rules when investigating allegations of child abuse or neglect. 

A capable attorney can help identify those missteps, put pressure on the department and use those errors to argue on behalf of parents in court. Attorneys can also connect clients to services that can help move them toward reunification with their children. 

But a lack of attorneys makes that kind of zealous representation less likely, which in turn results in more families separated and more cost to the state. 

And if there’s no family defender keeping the pressure on, judges sure aren’t going to do it.  Again, from the story: 

One recent decision from the Maine Supreme Court shows how even repeated failures by the department can have little impact on the outcomes of cases. 

On October 3, the high court published a memorandum decision in an appeal of a termination of parental rights out of Portland. The memo notes that the lower court was right to terminate the parental rights of the mother despite the fact that the judge in the case ordered the department to file a rehabilitation and reunification plan “seven times during the pendency of the case and never did so.” 

The story tells us how many families get no representation at all for weeks or months.  Given the shortage of lawyers, one can bet that few families get the kind of high-quality representation that can truly ease the suffering of their children by reducing their time trapped in foster care.  

The state is taking the first steps toward building such a system – but it will take three years for it to reach even half the families who need it. [UPDATE, JAN, 6: This afternoon the Portland Press Herald published its own very good story about this effort and why it's so important.]

The story notes that even the state’s child welfare “ombudsman” mentions in her latest report that she is concerned about the shortage of defense attorneys. Of course, she does not mention her own role in creating the shortage by fomenting foster-care panic.