Indicator: Children Returned to Maine from Out-of-State Residential and Hospital Placements

Priority or Priorities:  ACES/Resiliency
Initiative(s): Trauma-Informed System of Care (THRIVE)
Outcome (s): Children and youth respected, safe and nurtured in their communities

Why This is Important

For a number of years Maine, like many other states, placed children and adolescents with behavioral health or habilitation needs in out-of-state residential programs or hospitals for behavioral health treatment services. This practice reflected a lack of appropriate in-state treatment programs and inpatient psychiatric capacity to meet the needs of these children. Both families and their children do far better when they are able to stay connected with each other during hospitalization or while in a temporary out-of-home treatment setting. Out-of-state placements typically mean that parents are separated from their children for extensive periods of time. This causes additional emotional stress on siblings and financial hardship that impacts the entire family.

Where We Stand

The 1998 law creating the Children's Mental Health Program made the transfer of children placed out-of-state to care in Maine a priority. At that time the out-of-state census was approximately 240 children. The chart above shows that Maine continues to make significant progress in returning children from out-of-state placements back to their homes and communities.

Over the past five years there has been a consistent decline in the number of children who are being served out-of-state. During this time period the out-of-state census of children receiving care and treatment from the Department of Health & Human Services was reduced by more than half from 110 children to 46 children. Eighty-seven percent of these children are in New England settings. Beginning in 2001, these results were achieved through close collaboration between the Bureaus of Child & Family Services and Children's Behavioral Health Services. The elements to achieve such positive outcomes include prior authorization for placement out-of-state after confirmation that no in-state alternatives exist to meet the child's assessed needs, greater availability of Maine resources such as in-home behavioral supports and out-of-home intensive, temporary treatment programs, and the development of a specialized unit for children with Developmental Disabilities at Spring Harbor Hospital.

Data Source and Context

Data comes from the Department of Health & Human Services, Children's Behavioral Health Services.