Maine’s foster care population grew at a higher rate than any other state between 2019 and 2023, new federal data shows.
It was one of just six states that increased its foster care population during that five-year period, according to a Maine Monitor analysis of data from the federal Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
AFCARS published data for fiscal year 2023, the most recent year for which data is available, in May, showing that Maine removed children from their families because of abuse and neglect at one of the highest rates in the country.
In 2023, Maine was more likely to remove children than all but five other states: West Virginia, Alaska, Montana, Kentucky and South Dakota. That year, Maine removed 4.14 children per 1,000 living in the state, about 75 percent higher than the national rate of 2.4 children per 1,000.
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While Maine’s foster care population increased 17 percent between 2019 and 2023, the most in the nation, the national foster care population fell nearly 20 percent.
More recent data from Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, however, shows the state foster care population has declined since reaching a 20-year high last fall.
Maine’s child welfare system includes DHHS, the Attorney General’s office, which represents the department in court, the attorneys who represent parents and the judges who preside over child protection cases.
Within DHHS, the Office of Child and Family Services (OFCS) oversees child protective cases and the removal of children. In an interview, OFCS Director Bobbi Johnson said the growth of Maine’s foster care population was due in part to higher than average rates of cases involving substance abuse, a lack of attorneys to represent parents and a dearth of behavioral and mental health support services, which has “resulted in a lack of reunification services.”
Johnson, who became the office’s director in early 2024, also attributed the increase to several highly publicized deaths of children known to DHHS in late 2017 and early 2018. Those tragic deaths prompted legislative changes and policy shifts, as well as an increase in reports to the department.
The phenomenon is not unique to Maine. Research has suggested media coverage of child deaths can prompt increases in the number of children entering foster care and decreases in the number adopted or reunited with their families, as caseworkers take a “better safe than sorry” approach.
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Johnson said the department is working with organizations that study the science of children’s safety as it adjusts its approach to be less “reactive.”
She expressed a desire to improve the system and staff knowledge instead of “saying the system is not working effectively and everything needs to be changed, which I think tends to be what you see in jurisdictions where there are child fatalities.”
Some still see an issue, however.
“We continue to be in a place in our state where we are almost solely focused on these tragedies and criticism of the child welfare agency’s response; that has an impact on decision-making at many levels, which can lead to more kids coming into care,” Melissa Hackett, a policy associate with the Maine Children’s Alliance, said in an email.
Poverty vs. neglect
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The federal data shows that two-thirds of the children Maine put in foster care in 2023 were placed there because of neglect, which is higher than the national average.
In recent years, there has been a growing consensus nationwide that in many cases, removing children from homes can result in more long-term harm than leaving them there and connecting families with services, such as mental health and substance use treatment, behavioral supports and financial resources. This movement is linked to the idea that child welfare agencies often accuse parents of neglect when the root issue is poverty, and could be addressed by putting supports in place rather than removing a child.
Earlier this week, Governor Janet Mills signed legislation into law that changed the state’s definition of child neglect, creating an exception for parents who can’t provide necessities because they are unable to afford them. More than half of U.S. states have adopted similar statutes. The department supported the change.
But some lawmakers and advocates in Augusta argued that the bill didn’t go far enough. They argue the state is unnecessarily separating families and paying for foster care, lawyers and court time instead of addressing the symptoms of poverty. They argue the state is opening too many cases, making it harder to identify those that are particularly dangerous.
“The system we have now is not designed to effectively keep children safe,” Alica Rea from the Maine ACLU testified before a legislative committee in April. “Instead, the system puts parents, especially single mothers, in the impossible situation of having to overcome poverty in order to stop being monitored and to reunite with their children, without providing them with the resources necessary to do so.”
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Not everyone shares this perspective. According to Maine’s child welfare ombudsman, the state is not removing children from homes quickly enough.
“Since 2019, the trends that my office has seen do not show that the Department is taking too many children into state custody,” Christine Alberi wrote in an email. “The Department has often delayed taking children into custody too long after multiple investigations or safety plans.”
Alberi said the department’s reaction after 2018 included “a much higher level of risk aversion” that was “not a model for child welfare practice.”
This included reinvestigating cases sent to the Alternative Response Program (which is often where low severity cases are referred) and ending out-of-home safety planning, which resulted in more children entering custody, Alberi said.
“Many changes were needed but instead of refocusing on proper practice, the Department did too much too quickly,” Alberi wrote.
Declining numbers
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Data suggests Maine’s foster care surge may be receding.
The number of children entering state custody increased from 820 to 1,246 between 2017 and 2019, a 50 percent rise. But in the next five years, entries into the system fell 15 percent to 1,054 in 2023.
Despite the lower level of children entering the system, the overall foster care population continued to grow until well into 2024, as the number of children exiting the system, due to adoption or reunification with parents, was lower than the number of children entering.
While federal data is lagging, Maine’s child welfare dashboard has more current numbers. They show that the foster care population continued to increase from 2023 to 2024. In July, the number of children in state care hit a 20-year high of 2,579.
But that total has been declining since, dropping to 2,290 in April.
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Johnson sees the decline as “a positive movement.”
She attributed the decline to more adoptions (Maine has a higher rate of children leaving the system through adoption than the national average) and efforts to identify barriers to either adoption or reunification. She also credited investments in the state’s behavioral health system, which allow families to get help before removal is needed, Johnson said.
“Building out the infrastructure of prevention within our state is really critical,” she said.
Steve Heinz of Cumberland is a member of the Maine Council of Trout Unlimited (Merrymeeting Bay chapter).
Man’s got to eat.
It’s a simple truth, and in Maine it carries a lot of weight. For generations, people here have hunted, fished and gathered food not just as a pastime, but as a practical part of life. That reality helps explain why Maine voters embraced a constitutional right to food — and why emotions run high when fishing regulations are challenged in court.
A recent lawsuit targeting Maine’s fly-fishing-only regulations has sparked exactly that reaction. The Maine Council of Trout Unlimited believes this moment calls for clarity and restraint. The management of Maine’s fisheries belongs with professional biologists and the public process they oversee, not in the courtroom.
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Trout Unlimited is not an anti-harvest organization, nor a club devoted to elevating one style of angling over another. We are a coldwater conservation organization focused on sustaining healthy, resilient fisheries.
Maine’s reputation as the last great stronghold of wild brook trout did not happen by accident; it is the product of decades of careful management by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW), guided by science, field experience and public participation.
Fly-fishing-only waters are one of the tools MDIFW uses to protect vulnerable fisheries. They are not about exclusivity. In most cases, fly fishing involves a single hook, results in lower hooking mortality and lends itself to catch-and-release practices. The practical effect is straightforward: more fish survive and more people get a chance to fish.
Maine’s trout waters are fundamentally different from the fertile rivers of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states. Our freestone streams are cold, fast and naturally nutrient-poor. Thin soils, granite bedrock and dense forests limit aquatic productivity, meaning brook trout grow more slowly and reproduce in smaller numbers.
A single season of low flows, high water temperatures or habitat disturbance can set a population back for years. In Maine, conservation is not a luxury; it is a biological necessity.
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In more fertile southern waters, abundant insects and richer soils allow trout populations to rebound quickly from heavy harvest and environmental stress. Maine’s waters simply do not have that buffer.
Every wild brook trout here is the product of limited resources and fragile conditions. When fish are removed faster than they can be replaced, recovery is slow and uncertain. That reality is why management tools such as fly-fishing-only waters, reduced bag limits and seasonal protections matter so much.
These rules are not about denying access; they are about matching human use to ecological capacity so fisheries remain viable over time. Climate change only raises the stakes, as warmer summers and lower late-season flows increasingly push cold-water fisheries to their limits.
Healthy trout streams also safeguard drinking water, support wildlife and sustain rural economies through guiding and outdoor tourism. Conservation investments ripple far beyond the streambank.
Lawsuits short-circuit the management system that has served Maine well for decades. Courts are not designed to weigh fisheries science or balance competing uses of a complex public resource. That work is best done through open meetings, public input and adaptive management informed by professionals who spend their careers studying Maine’s waters.
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Man’s got to eat. But if we want Maine’s trout fisheries to endure, we also have to manage them wisely. That means trusting science, respecting process and recognizing that conservation — not confrontation — is what keeps food on the table and fish in the water.
TJ Biel scored 21 points and Newport native Ace Flagg added 10 points and seven rebounds as the University of Maine men’s basketball team held on for a 74-70 win over the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey.
Logan Carey added 11 points and five assists for the Black Bears, who improve to 3-15 overall and 1-2 in the conference. Yanis Bamba chipped in 14 points.
Maine led by seven at the half, but NJIT went on a 13-0 run in the first four minutes to take a 43-37 lead. The Black Bears recovered and took the lead on a dunk by Keelan Steele with 7:53 left and held on for the win.
Sebastian Robinson scored 24 points and Ari Fulton grabbed 11 rebounds for NJIT (7-11, 2-1).
Clarissa Sabattis, Chief of the Houlton Band of Maliseets, foreground, and other leaders of Maine’s tribes are welcomed by lawmakers into the House Chamber in March, 2023 in Augusta. (Robert F. Bukaty, /Associated Press)
Maine’s gambling landscape is set to expand after Gov. Janet Mills decided Thursday to let tribes offer online casino games, but numerous questions remain over the launch of the new market and how much it will benefit the Wabanaki Nations.
Namely, there is no concrete timeline for when the new gambling options that make Maine the eighth “iGaming” state will become available. Maine’s current sports betting market that has been dominated by the Passamaquoddy Tribe through its partnership with DraftKings is evidence that not all tribes may reap equal rewards.
A national anti-online gaming group also vowed to ask Maine voters to overturn the law via a people’s veto effort and cited its own poll finding a majority of Mainers oppose online casino gaming.
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Here are the big remaining questions around iGaming.
1. When will iGaming go into effect?
The law takes effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns this year. Adjournment is slated for mid-April, but Mills spokesperson Ben Goodman noted it is not yet known when lawmakers will actually finish their work.
2. Where will the iGaming revenue go?
The iGaming law gives the state 18% of the gross receipts, which will translate into millions of dollars annually for gambling addiction and opioid use treatment funds, Maine veterans, school renovation loans and emergency housing relief.
Leaders of the four federally recognized tribes in Maine highlighted the “life-changing revenue” that will come thanks to the decision from Mills, a Democrat who has clashed with the Wabanaki Nations over the years over more sweeping tribal sovereignty measures.
But one chief went so far Thursday as to call her the “greatest ever” governor for “Wabanaki economic progress.”
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3. What gaming companies will the tribes work with?
DraftKings has partnered with the Passamaquoddy to dominate Maine’s sports betting market, while the Penobscot Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Mi’kmaq Nation have partnered with Caesars Entertainment to garner a smaller share of the revenue.
Wall Street analysts predicted the two companies will likely remain the major players in Maine’s iGaming market.
The partnership between the Passamaquoddy and DraftKings has brought in more than $100 million in gross revenue since 2024, but the Press Herald reported last month that some members of the tribe’s Sipayik reservation have criticized Chief Amkuwiposohehs “Pos” Bassett, saying they haven’t reaped enough benefits from the gambling money.
4. Has Mills always supported gambling measures?
The iGaming measure from Rep. Ambureen Rana, D-Bangor, factored into a long-running debate in Maine over gambling. In 2022, lawmakers and Mills legalized online sports betting and gave tribes the exclusive rights to offer it beginning in 2023.
But allowing online casino games such as poker and roulette in Maine looked less likely to become reality under Mills. Her administration had previously testified against the bill by arguing the games are addictive.
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But Mills, who is in the final year of her tenure and is running in the high-profile U.S. Senate primary for the chance to unseat U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Thursday she would let the iGaming bill become law without her signature. She said she viewed iGaming as a way to “improve the lives and livelihoods of the Wabanaki Nations.”
5. Who is against iGaming?
Maine’s two casinos in Bangor and Oxford opposed the iGaming bill, as did Gambling Control Board Chair Steve Silver and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, among other opponents.
Silver noted Hollywood Casino Bangor and Oxford Casino employ nearly 1,000 Mainers, and he argued that giving tribes exclusive rights to iGaming will lead to job losses.
He also said in a Friday interview the new law will violate existing statutes by cutting out his board from iGaming oversight.
“I don’t think there’s anything the board can do at this point,” Silver said.
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The National Association Against iGaming has pledged to mount an effort to overturn the law via a popular referendum process known as the “people’s veto.” But such attempts have a mixed record of success.
