SOUTH PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) – The state of Maine plans to cut off funding for a program designed to end child abuse in Maine. This comes in the same time around two deadly child abuse cases in the state.
Four-year-old Kendall Chick was murdered in Wiscasset in December. Her mother is charged with that crime.
On Monday, 10-year-old Marissa Kennedy of Stockton Springs was murdered. Her mother and stepfather are accused of killing her.
There is no guarantee that a program like Community Partnerships for Protecting Children would have stopped these horrific crimes, but ending the contract to the program at such a crucial time came as a shock.
DHHS helped found CPPC in 2006. Now, it will stop funding it.
“This is a huge loss,” said Mike Tarpinian, the President and CEO of Opportunity Alliance, the organization that oversees CPPC. “Not only is it huge loss, but one has to begin to wonder about the safety of children.”
The CPPC pilot program started in Cumberland and York Counties back in 2006. Its mission: “Together, we keep children and their families safe, engaged and thriving.”
The program is a partnership between the community and Child Protective Services.
CPPC can be broken down into three different components. The first is a network of community members. The organization brings together local social workers, police, faith leaders, and neighbors willing to connect. The second component is parents as partners. Any parents with past experience with Child Protective Services will mentor other parents and families in “high risk” situations. The final component is the “resource hub” – physical buildings where events are held like food exchanges and community dinners.
The goal is to help children stay safe and to give parents resources and skills so CHild Protective Services never has to get involved.
Westbrook Police Chief Janine Roberts says the Department used CPPC resources as recently as last week to help a woman break out of domestic violence. She says the group of people who helped the woman was brought together through CPPC.
The program receives $2.2 million a year from DHHS – and had recently started expanding to counties all over the state.
That funding will dry up when the contract ends on September 30th. DHHS says it’s because the purpose of CPPC overlaps with other state programs. “We looked at the contract and said ‘are there other agencies that overlap?’” said DHHS Commissioner Ricker Hamilton. “[The answer is] yes. They overlap with the CAN Councils in some areas.” The LePage Administration provided NEWS CENTER Maine with an outline of the two programs, their similarities and differences.
Maine's child abuse prevention programs by NEWSCENTER26 on Scribd
CPPC organizers say this isn’t true. They fear what will happen to the networks built through the program when its funding is ripped away. “[This is] akin to building only emergency room is and not having any doctors’ office,” said CPPC Coordinator Deb Dunlap.
The DHHS commissioner says he will consider keeping some parts of the program, that the decision isn’t final, and that he is in open discussions with CPPC representatives.