As a former Office of Child and Family Services director, I feel compelled to respond to the recent reporting about OCFS.

The OCFS has always struggled to meet its obligations with the resources available to it. For a brief period after a tragic death in 2001, with the help of the Legislature, national consultants and USM Muskie School, OCFS was able to enhance performance and safety in child welfare. That began a period in which Maine OCFS was held up as a model child welfare system. Over time, many necessary components were eliminated for budgetary reasons.

Enhancing agency performance is costly. Directors are allowed to request resources that fit within budgetary constraints and never for what is really needed. If the goal is fewer kids in foster care, more people willing to foster and more readily available emergency placements, we have to be willing to pay for them. If the goal is experienced and well trained staff, we need robust pre-service and ongoing training. Long-term consistent funding is key.

The kind of overtime described in the Dec. 20 Press Herald article is ludicrous, but I doubt that Bobbi Johnson has been supported to pursue other options. To my knowledge, she is a bright, experienced and talented child welfare professional. Restructuring the bureaucracy is a waste of time and resources. It makes officials feel better but it doesn’t improve outcomes.

There are resources available to address the issues. Unfortunately, it is difficult for incumbents to speak the truth about the legitimate needs of the agency.

Karen Westburg
Portland