What we’re monitoring: Gun Safety
New federal data shows Maine’s child welfare agency is moving against national trends
“We’re flooding the system,” said one child advocate, arguing that Maine is failing to keep kids safe not because it is investigating too few families but because it is investigating too many.
Maine’s yellow flag law in three charts
Since the Lewiston shootings, agencies have completed 548 weapon restriction orders, for an average of 38 orders per month.
The list of Maine parents waiting for a lawyer grew by 700 percent in 2024 — and it may not account for the whole problem
As some attorneys question whether the state’s list of unstaffed cases is properly maintained, there are efforts to build a team of public defenders devoted to representing indigent parents in child protection cases.
Attorneys talk challenges, next steps at indigent defense symposium
The free event in Augusta, co-hosted by The Maine Monitor and the Maine Indigent Defense Center, examined the origins of the crisis, models in other states and the rollout of Maine’s new public defender offices.
Federal audit finds Maine’s child welfare agency failed to follow its own policies
Inspectors made a series of recommendations, including additional training for caseworkers and supervisors and a system for documenting when notification letters are sent out.
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