LEWISTON — Student services at school-based clinics in Lewiston and Auburn, and across the state, will be dramatically reduced when school opens this fall, officials said Wednesday. A cut in the Fund for Healthy Maine made by the Department of Health and Human Services means that “100 percent of the grant funding” for school health […]
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Posted inMaine
Senate rejects Nate Libby measure for more welfare oversight
AUGUSTA — A proposal to create a new oversight commission for Maine’s welfare program faltered in the Republican-controlled Senate Thursday on a party line vote. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Nate Libby, D-Lewiston, calls for gathering more data and setting benchmarks to ensure low-income Mainers are doing better. It would also add a citizens oversight […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Judge dismisses all DHHS fraud charges against Lewiston man
AUBURN — In a stunning reversal, a judge ordered the dismissal of more than a dozen welfare fraud charges against a Lewiston man after prosecutors raised questions about documents possibly forged by state caseworkers. Applications for welfare benefits in the case may have been improperly filled out by several caseworkers at the Maine Department of […]
Posted inMaine
Maine DHHS says foster homes needed for kids with special needs
AUGUSTA (AP) — The state says there’s a continued need for foster homes in Maine as more children come into state custody because of parental substance abuse. Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew says there’s a particular need for foster families who support reunification as well as those caring for teens, sibling […]
Posted inConnections
Foster families sought for Maine children
AUGUSTA — Maine Department of Health and Human Services is seeking families to foster the approximately 1,800 Maine children in foster care. According to the Office of Child and Family Services, the number of children younger than 5 in state custody has nearly doubled in the last decade. Children must be placed in suitable foster homes in […]
Posted inMaine
Sally Schofield, convicted in death of foster child, released from prison
PORTLAND (AP) — A former Maine health official accused of binding her 5-year-old foster child in a high chair with duct tape and convicted of manslaughter in the child’s death has been released from prison. WCSH-TV reports ex-Department of Health and Human Services supervisor Sally Schofield left prison Tuesday. Schofield was sentenced to 17 years […]
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Maine GOP hopes Trump administration will back food stamp restrictions
AUGUSTA — Maine resident Zak McCutcheon says he likes soda but acknowledges he’d drink less of it if his governor convinced Republican President Donald Trump to put restrictions on the approximately $200 a month he receives in food stamps. He thinks it may even make recipients healthier and less overweight. “If I was more restricted […]
Posted inMaine
LePage administration says welfare recipients skipping drug tests
AUGUSTA — GOP Gov. Paul LePage’s administration says welfare recipients aren’t showing up for drug tests and that reform is needed. The state requires drug tests for welfare recipients with prior drug convictions who score high on a substance-use disorder screening tool. The state Department of Health and Human Services told The Associated Press that […]
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Lawmakers to vote on money for treatment, military authority
AUGUSTA (AP) — A Maine legislative committee has advanced a budget request that would expand access to drug treatment. The committee on Friday sent the $29 million supplementary spending package to the full Legislature for a vote. Lawmakers will continue to hold hearings on Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s separate $6.8 billion, two-year budget proposal. Lawmakers […]
Posted inConnections, Lewiston-Auburn
AHCH president to address Rotary Club
LEWISTON — Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice President and CEO Kenneth Albert will address the Lewiston-Auburn Rotary Club on Thursday, March 2. The talk is from noon to 1 p.m. at the Ramada Inn Conference Center, 490 Pleasant St. Prior to his appointment to AHCH in June 2016, Albert was the director and chief operating […]