Maine’s health department consistently relicenses child care providers with repeat violations, a joint Maine Monitor and Center for Public Integrity investigation found.
Over the last four months, The Maine Monitor and The Center for Public Integrity worked on an investigation that found the state has not revoked a single child care license since 2021.
Providers across the state have been cited for violations ranging from missing immunization records to dragging children across the room.
From January 2021 to July of 2024, providers were cited for over 16,000 violations. To differentiate between administrative issues and incidents that could endanger a child’s health or welfare, The Monitor and Public Integrity developed a system that classifies violations as “safety violations” or “procedural violations.”
Safety violations include physical altercations; severe unsanitary conditions; yelling or using derogatory remarks; a lack of supervision; or issues involving guns or ammunition, among others. Procedural violations include missing or incomplete records; failure to follow guidelines; or the lack of emergency contact information on file.
Here are the main takeaways:
Inspection reports show nearly 4,000 safety violations
An investigation of over 6,000 inspection reports issued between January 2021 and July 2024 found almost 4,000 safety violations. Of these violations, more than 130 involved physical or verbal altercations. There were also thirteen incidents in which guns, pellet guns, rifles or pellets were found by state inspectors.
Of the over 1,500 providers with available inspection reports, more than 400 had only procedural violations, including missing immunization records or lack of fire drills. And 117 had no violations at all.
Child care experts said many of the violations outlined in inspection reports could be attributed to staffing difficulties, in part due to the pandemic, when staff became reluctant to be exposed to germs found in facilities and left for higher-paying jobs.
The state has not revoked a single child care license
Despite repeat violations, all the centers mentioned in the story remain licensed. Since the Department of Health and Human Services faced scrutiny back in 2014, the state has poured millions of dollars into funding to help improve programming and education.
The state has also increased its number of licensing specialists to 18. Licensing specialists work under the Office of Child and Family Services, a division within the Department of Health and Human Services and oversee inspections, follow ups and complaint investigations.
Reports are made publicly available online for three years. Providers are also tasked with filling out their own incident reports for their own records and for state and parents to review.
If violations occur, the state has the option to issue sanctions ranging from monetary fines to conditional licenses that require the facility to meet certain requirements to come into compliance. The state can also revoke a license if violations prove to be serious.
Since 2021, the state has not revoked a single child care license. The state has, however, voided conditional licenses or denied licenses for twelve facilities during their renewal process, for reasons ranging from missing or incomplete records and inaccurate attendance to reports of providers withholding food or shaming children — incidents which are similar to violations found in currently operational centers.
In that same time frame, the state has not issued a single fine.
“Licensing Action coupled with increased technical assistance and support has proven to be an effective strategy for compliance with regulations, whereas fines represent a punitive action that does not have the benefit of support from Licensing Specialists,” said DHHS spokesperson Lindsay Hammes.
Parents frustrated by limited communication
Parents expressed concerns. Although providers are required to inform parents when an action is taken against their license and inform them of any incidents involving their child, many parents said they were unaware their facility had been written up for a violation, or that they were on notice from the state.
At a facility in Belfast, a mother said her provider lied to her about an incident and provided her with no documentation of the incident. Inspection reports confirmed this account.
The facility was put on a conditional license, but the mother said she was never informed.
In Arundel, another mother described reporting an incident to the state involving a provider closing her son in the bathroom as a form of discipline.
She was frustrated with the lack of communication from the state as they investigated the issue, and what she felt was minimal consequences for the facility.
“There’s a notice on her door that she failed inspection, and then that was it,” she said. “After the violations were posted, I never heard another word again from anyone.”