AUGUSTA, Maine — Two members of the child welfare ombudsman’s board have resigned, suggesting the Maine Department of Health and Human Services isn’t receptive to oversight.
Board members Ally Keppel and James “Allie” McCormack said their resignations last week stem from longstanding concerns that were underscored by the recent deaths of four children. The four deaths include the fatal beating of 3-year-old Maddox Williams, in Stockton Springs. His mother, Jessica Trefethen, is in jail, charged with murder.
Court records reportedly show the DHHS Office of Child and Family Services had been involved with the boy’s family prior to his death. DHHS won’t say if it was involved in the other cases. Following its usual practice, DHHS is not providing any additional information, and investigations are ongoing.
In a letter to the Portland Press Herald, Keppel and McCormack said they had concerns about the department after the 2017 death of Kendall Chick and Marissa Kennedy's death in 2018.
“As time went by, reports from the ombudsman to the board took on an eerie familiarity, and the ombudsman’s 2019 and 2020 reports to the Maine Legislature continued to expose the same systemic safety issues that led to these needless child deaths,” the two wrote. “Another legislative session has gone by without any significant changes, and the newspaper articles reporting multiple child deaths involving some degree of DHHS involvement have arrived as feared."
DHHS spokesperson Jackie Farwell issued the following statement Tuesday:
"The Department is committed to in-depth reviews of these recent deaths in order to learn and act to improve the safety of Maine children and families. This includes partnering with Casey Family Programs to gain the outside perspective of national experts and inviting the Child Welfare Ombudsman to participate in that process.
The Department has and will continue to provide the Ombudsman with as much information as possible on the subset of cases her office chooses to review. This is in line with the process outlined in state statute and according to state and federal confidentiality laws that limit the information we can provide. We have and will continue to welcome the Ombudsman’s contribution to efforts to improve the lives of Maine children and families.
We also continue to support the efforts of additional independent entities including the Child Death and Serious Injury Review Panel, which is tasked with reviewing child deaths, the Maine Child Welfare Advisory Panel, and the Maine Justice for Children Task Force. The Department is also supporting requests from the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA). Child protective services is appropriately subject to significant oversight."
The death of a child is a tragic loss – for that child’s future, their family, their community, and our state. We take seriously our responsibility as a state and as a society to do all we can to help children grow up safe and ensure they have the love and attention they need.
After the 2017-2018 child abuse deaths and subsequent investigation, the Legislature and the administrations of both Gov. Paul LePage and Gov. Janet Mills hired scores of new caseworkers, increased training, adopted other guidelines, and invested in a new computer system to manage the caseloads.
Now, lawmakers are asking if those measures were enough, if proper procedures were followed, or if there are other problems that may have contributed to the June deaths.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.