Maine’s juvenile offenders and at-risk youth have been cast aside again | Opinion

Mariah Pizzuto is a licensed social worker and MSW student at the University of Maine at Orono. She is also a former Child Protective Services caseworker.

The Maine State Legislature has again failed to affect real change regarding Long Creek Youth Development Center. LD 1923, An Act to Repurpose Long Creek Youth Development Center and Build a Community System of Support, has been amended to the point where we will not see real action on the subject for another five years, if at all.

The original bill proposed that the facility be repurposed with a start date of no later than Jan. 1, 2027. Amendments now state that studies will be conducted over the next five years to provide recommendations for exactly how the facility should be changed — ridiculous considering the fact that the state has known since 2021, when Gov. Mills vetoed legislation to close the facility due to a lack of proper interventions being in place, that supports for Maine’s juvenile offenders and at-risk youth need to be investigated.

Here we are, five years later, with the state putting off change yet again in favor of “studies.” How many of our youth must be exposed to the revolving door of a broken criminal justice system before we see real steps forward? Frankie Bachelder, a former resident of Long Creek who was there five separate times from the ages of 14-16, said it best in his testimony to the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety:

“Each time I was released from Long Creek, there was no real treatment plan, no meaningful re-entry support and no follow-up care. I was sent home and expected to do better, with the same trauma, the same addiction issues and the same lack of support I had before…..the problem wasn’t that I was incapable of change. The problem was that Long Creek wasn’t designed to help me change.”

Powerful, impactful words from a youth who has firsthand experience in not only being
subjected to Long Creek, but finding his way out of addiction and maladaptive behaviors. We know what needs to be done. LD 1923, before its amendments, outlined it in perfect clarity. We must implement services for housing, behavioral health, education, substance use disorder prevention and treatment, wrap-around case management, the list goes on.

The original bill even included a section regarding development of a working group to study options and best practices for repurposing the land and facilities at the center — we had it all, but it was taken away in order for the state to avoid assuming responsibility for affecting change by 2027.

“I’m standing here today employed, sober, involved in my community and working with youth organizations because someone finally invested in my rehabilitation. I am living proof that when we focus on treatment instead of punishment, lives change,” Frankie Bachelder testified.

What is stopping Maine legislators from being the force to invest in our youth? I know that fixing a broken system will take time, money and effort. I know that it is a massive responsibility and it is much easier to let things continue on as they currently stand. Mr. Bachelder probably felt the same after repeated stints at Long Creek. But if he can turn things around, make an effort to dig himself out of a system that is not designed to help him and support his improvement, then the very least we can do is follow his lead.

But we won’t. The Maine State Legislature has proven that. We have failed him, and will continue to fail every child that enters our broken and outdated facility. Why are we so afraid to take action?