MAINE

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WHO:        ANY person MAY report reasonable cause to suspect a child was OR is likely to be abused or neglected OR had a suspicious death. This specifically includes animal control officers except that provision does not list death.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, §§ 4011-A(1-A),(3)]

These are mandatory (MUST report or cause a report to be made). Note: “person” means an individual, corporation, facility, institution or agency, public or private [both for reporters and for perpetrators].  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, §§ 4011-A(1); 4002(8)] 

(I)  In a PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY: • Allopathic or osteopathic physicians, residents, interns, emergency medical services persons, medical examiners, physician’s assistants, dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, chiropractors, podiatrists, or registered or licensed practical nurses • Teachers, guidance counselors, school officials, youth camp administrators or counselors, or social workers • Court-appointed special advocates or guardians ad litem • Homemakers, home health aides, medical or social service workers, psychologists, child care personnel, or mental health professionals • Law enforcement officials, State or municipal fire inspectors, or municipal code enforcement officials • Commercial film & photo print processors • Clergy members • Chairs of professional licensing boards with jurisdiction over mandated reporters • Humane agents employed by the Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry • Sexual assault counselors or family or domestic violence victim advocates • School bus drivers or attendants.

(II)  Any person with full, intermittent, or occasional CARE OR CUSTODY of the child, compensated or not.

(III)  Any person affiliated with a CHURCH OR RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION, while acting in an administrative capacity or otherwise in a position of trust or responsibility to members, regardless of receiving compensation.

·       NOTE: Mandates arising from occupation or religious duties concern work. But one arising from childcare or custody (constant or not; paid or not) is for ANY time.

·       STANDARD:  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, §§ 4002(2); 4011-A; 4011-B]  Child means under age 18. 

                              (1)      For ALL mandatory reporters, ANY of:

(a)     When acting in a professional capacity, know or have reasonable cause to suspect that a child (1) has been OR (2) is likely to be abused or neglected OR (3) had a suspicious death; or

                                                       (i)     [For a mandated report by a licensed mental health professional on this basis, DHHS will consult them on how the department should proceed.]

(b)     [awareness of] evidence that a child under 6 months old or otherwise non-ambulatory has a severe injury: a bone fracture; substantial bruising or multiple bruises; subdural hematoma; burns; poisoning; or injury resulting in substantial bleeding, soft tissue swelling, or organ impairment; or

(c)      knowledge or reasonable cause to suspect a child is not living with his/her family. Reports may be ANY time, but MUST be immediate IF a stay is >6 months or >12 months by power of attorney or other nonjudicial authorization

(d)     NOTE: any mandatory reporter MAY report (i.e., it is NOT mandated) a reasonable suspicion of animal cruelty, abuse or neglect.

                              (2)      Health-care provider of infant delivery or care: knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that an infant: (1) was born affected by illegal substance use; or (2) demonstrates withdrawal symptoms (likely) due to prenatal drug exposure, requiring more than standard monitoring or care for newborns, regardless of whether the drugs were (il)legal; or (3) has fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

                              (3)      An animal control officer (non-mandatory):  knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been or is likely to be abused or neglected.

                              (4)      Any NON-mandated reporter: reasonable cause to suspect that a child (1) has been OR (2) is likely to be abused or neglected OR (3) had a suspicious death. 

·       PRIVILEGE: (1) Clergy are privileged for information received in professional confidence. (2) Husband-wife, physician-patient, and psychotherapist-patient privilege do NOT apply for reporting, but statements to a licensed mental health professional in the course of counseling, therapy, or evaluation may not be used against the client in a criminal proceeding.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, §§ 4011-A(1)(A)(27); 4015]

WHEN:      For mandatory reporters: IMMEDIATE oral report; then IF DHHS requests it, (2) a written report within 48 HOURS.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. 22, §§ 4011-A; 4012(1)]

WHERE & HOW:  Mainly to the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS), but with some special variations: [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, §§ 4011-A; 4012(1); CFS Pol. Man. § IV.B]

·       Most reporters: immediately by phone to DHHS (the hotline), followed by a written report within 48 HOURS if requested.

·       Hospitals, medical & law enforcement personnel: may submit emergency reports by password-protected email, or by fax if preceded by a phone call to DHHS. Hospital & law enforcement staff must try to take & provide color photos of visible trauma areas.

·       Institutions: A mandated reporter in his/her capacity on staff at a medical or public or private institution, agency, or facility, MUST immediately notify its chief or designated agent. The notified person MUST then make a report to DHHS (and the county D.A. if relevant) or delegate it.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, §§ 4011-A(1),(2)]

o   The staff member MAY (a) report or (b) opt out IF within 24 hours s/he receives written confirmation from his/her chief or their delegate. Confirmation must include: the ultimate reporter’s name; report date(s) & time(s); and a summary.

o   If the original staff member does NOT receive confirmation within 24 hours, s/he MUST immediately report to DHHS (and to the county D.A. if relevant). Employers may not prevent or discourage employee reporting.

·       CHILD DEATH; or ABUSE BY NON-CAREGIVERS: Any mandatory reporter in a professional capacity, who suspects abuse or neglect (a) by a person NOT responsible for the child or (b) that abuse or neglect contributed to death, must file a dual report:  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, §§ 4002(12); 4011-A(2); CFS Pol. Man. § IV.B]

o   Report or cause a report to be made to both (1) DHHS (at the hotline shown below) and (2) the appropriate county’s DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S (D.A.’s) office.

o   [See county D.A. directory: https://www.mainecounties.org/district-attorneys.html] 

·       ANIMALS: Any mandatory reporter MAY optionally report suspected animal cruelty, abuse, or neglect to the local animal control officer [see the directory at https://www.maine.gov/dacf/ahw/animal_welfare/animal_control_officers.shtml] or to the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry animal welfare program [see contact info at https://www.maine.gov/dacf/ahw/animal_welfare/]. Reports with confidential info must disclose only enough to identify the animal’s location, status, and owner’s name & address.

·       For a child in immediate danger:                                     Dial 911

·       Maine Child Protective Intake (24/7, toll-free hotline):    1-800-452-1999 

o   Deaf or hard of hearing (TTY), call:                           Maine Relay 711 

o   For advice about a concern, contact the Maine Office of Child and Family Services: (888) 568-1112 or https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/ocfs/ 

o   Mandatory (and other) reporters may fill out a worksheet before calling in.  See the worksheet link at: https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/population-health/wic/documents/Policies/OM-Appendix-14-A_MandatedReportersWorksheet%20.pdf

o   For technical help, contact (207) 624-7900 or email  Robin.J.Bickford@maine.gov

·       For reports to DHHS by other means:     Maine does not publish contact information for the fax, email, written report form sites (if any), or other reporting options for DHHS online. Intake workers can provide those if and when they are needed.

·       REPORT DETAILS: mandatory reports MUST contain, if known for the child: (1) name & address, and that of persons responsible for care or custody; (2) age & sex; (3) nature & extent of abuse or neglect, and description of any injuries and explanations given for them; (4) description of sexual abuse or exploitation if any; (5) family composition and any evidence of prior abuse of child or siblings; (6) reporter’s name, occupation, & contact info; (7) reporter’s acts, if any (e.g., photos or x-rays); and (8) other info a reporter believes may help.  [Ann. Stat. tit. 22, § 4012(2)]  Intake workers also ask: (9) (optional) a non-mandated reporter’s name & contact info; and about the family: (10) other children’s ages; (11) phone number & directions to home; (12) work/school info; (13) other risks (domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health, etc.); and (14) known relatives or resources (aunts, uncles, grandparents, family friends, etc.).  Intake workers also like to know: (15) the primary language and ethnicity of the child and/or perpetrator (in case an interpreter is needed); (16) the child’s level of [mental] functioning and ability to protect him/herself; (17) how the alleged perpetrator and victim are related; (18) whether the alleged perpetrator is known to be violent, abuse alcohol, or have firearms in the home; (19) whether animals in the home could be a danger to a worker.

·       REPORTER PROTECTION: (1) Mandatory reporters MUST provide their name, occupation & contact info.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, § 4012(2)(F)]   (2) DHHS protects any reporter’s identity when disclosing info to a child the report names or to his/her parent, custodian, caregiver, or party to a child protection proceeding, or agency.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, §§ 4008(D)(G)]  (3) Any reporter in good faith is immune from civil and criminal liability; good faith is presumed; but immunity does not extend to perjury in false reports or to abuse or neglect.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, §§ 4014(1),(3)] 

WHY:        (1) Knowing failure to make a mandated report is a civil violation with a < $500 civil fine.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, § 4009]  (2) Knowingly false reports have not immunity and may have criminal or civil prosecution for perjury.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, § 4014(1)]

WHAT:      Maine defines child abuse or neglect as any of: physical, mental or emotional injury or impairment or a threat of it, sexual abuse or exploitation, deprivation, lack of protection, failure to ensure school attendance, & abandonment.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, § 4002]   

Initial Screening Criteria: (1) someone has direct knowledge of the child’s current condition; and (2) there is immediate risk of serious harm.  [CFS Pol. Man. § IV.C]

·        The assessment includes: (a) the identity and location of parents, children, and relative resources; (b) the nature of suspected abuse or neglect and the impact on the child; (c) the reporter's actions taken thus far, if any; and (d) other persons (especially professionals) who may have direct knowledge and how to contact them; also (e) the child welfare history of the family and alleged abuser(s) is taken into account. 

Reportable: (1) a person responsible for the child as to physical, mental, or emotional injury / impairment / threat / jeopardy, sexual abuse or exploitation, death, deprivation, lack of protection, and failure to ensure school attendance; (2) a parent as to abandonment; (3) the birth mother as to fetal alcohol; and (4) any non-caregiver for abuse: physical, mental, or emotional injury / impairment / threat / jeopardy, sexual abuse and exploitation, and death.    [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, § 4002]

·        Maine law on child abuse and neglect lists only caregivers as perpetrators. However, Maine also mandates reporting for harms by non-caregivers, with dual reports to the hotline and county D.A.s. Most non-accidental serious harms caused by non-caregivers (household members, peers, neighbors, strangers, etc.) are also crimes.

·        A person is an individual, corporation, facility, institution or agency, public or private.

·        A person responsible for the child is responsible for his/her health or welfare, at home or in another, or in a care facility. A person responsible includes the custodian.

·        A parent is an unterminated natural or adoptive or court-determined parent.

Abuse and Neglect mean that: (A) a person responsible for the child (B) threatens (C) the child’s health or welfare by (D) any of the harms following the definitions and preliminary aggravating factors below. [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, § 4002]

(a)      DEFINITION #1: Jeopardy to health or welfare (“jeopardy”) means serious abuse or neglect, as evidenced by serious harm or threat of it.

(b)      DEFINITION #2: Suspicious Child Death means the death of a child under circumstances in which there is reasonable cause to suspect that abuse or neglect was a cause or factor contributing to that death.

(c)      AGGRAVATING FACTORS for parental abuse or neglect are: (i) aggravated assault; (ii) kidnapping; (iii) abandonment; (iv) torture; (v) other heinous or abhorrent treatment; and (vi) involuntary termination of rights to a child’s sibling.

(A)     Physical, mental, or emotional injury or impairment.

(1)     JEOPARDY is evidenced by a serious injury, impairment or threat of it. It may be: (i) physical; or (ii) mental or emotional, that now or later will likely yield a mental, behavioral, or personality disorder, e.g., severe anxiety, depression or withdrawal, aggression, delayed development, or other serious dysfunctionality.

(2)     AGGRAVATING FACTORS for a parent include conviction as to a child for whom s/he was responsible OR lived in the same household OR frequented that household: (i) murder; (ii) felony murder; (iii) manslaughter; (iv) aiding, conspiring, or soliciting murder or manslaughter; (v) felony assault resulting in serious bodily injury; or (vi) any comparable crime in another jurisdiction.

(3)     FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDER is by prenatal alcohol exposure, identified between birth and age 12 months; effects include facial characteristics, growth restriction, central nervous system abnormalities, & other characteristics.

(B)     Sexual abuse or exploitation.

(1)     THIS INCLUDES but is not limited to: (i) sexual exploitation of a minor; (ii) sex trafficking and (iii) its aggravated form; and (iv) patronizing a prostituted minor.

(2)     THE AGE OF CONSENT is 16. (a) A child age 14 or 15 may consent to sexual acts with a partner less than 5 years older, and sexual touching with a partner less than 10 years older. (b) A child under age 14 may consent to sexual contact (e.g., penetration) with a partner less than 3 years older; and sexual touching with a partner less than 5 years older. Underage spouses are exempt. Mistake-of-age is a defense as to 16.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, §§ 254; 255-A; 260]

(a)   Terms: (i) Sexual acts directly touch one person’s genitals to another’s mouth, anus, genitals, or object. (ii) Sexual contact touches the genitals or anus, directly or through clothing, for arousal, gratification or abuse. (iii) Sexual touching is on the breasts, buttocks, groin, inner thigh, directly or through clothing, for arousal or gratification.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 251]

(b)   Sex is prohibited with: 2^nd degree consanguinity: school staff; overseers of probation, parole, prisons, & hospitals; persons responsible for care to age 18; social-services providers; counselors; authorities; the physically helpless; and the mentally disabled.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, §§ 254; 255-A; 260]

(3)     CONTEXT: INCEST is where a person age 18 or more engages in opposite-sex intercourse with a partner s/he knows to be related within the 2^nd degree of consanguinity, specifically a: (a) parent or grandparent; (b) child or grandchild); (c) brother or brother’s child; (d) sister or sister’s child; or (e) parent’s brother or parent’s sister. Exception: a legal marriage.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 556]  [NOTE: Maine uses a variation for determining degrees of consanguinity. By contrast, in Washington, D.C., a sibling’s child or parent’s sibling would be 3^rd degree, by counting back to a common ancestor and then down again.]

(4)     JEOPARDY is automatic for sexual abuse or exploitation.

(5)     AGGRAVATING FACTORS for a parent are: (i) rape; (ii) gross sexual misconduct; (iii) gross sexual assault; (iv) sexual abuse; (v) incest; (vi) promoting prostitution; (vii) sexual exploitation of a minor; (viii) aggravated sex traffic; etc.

(C)     Deprivation of essential needs.

(1)     JEOPARDY includes deprivation of needed food, clothing, shelter, supervision, care, or education for a child age > 7 who has not completed grade 6.

(2)     JEOPARDY includes deprivation of necessary health care when the deprivation places the child in danger of serious harm

(a)      But:  it is NOT abuse, neglect, jeopardy, or danger of serious harm, to treat a child’s medical condition only spiritually, by an accredited practitioner of a recognized religious group.  [Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, § 4010]

(3)     AGGRAVATING FACTORS for a parent include: (i) refusing to comply in 6 months’ treatment required for reunification with the child; and (ii) abandonment.

(D)     Lack of protection from (A) or (B) or (C); or

(1)     JEOPARDY includes when the child’s imminent return from voluntary placement to his/her custodian causes a threat of serious harm to the child.

(2)     AGGRAVATING FACTORS for a parent include: (i) refusing to comply in 6 months’ treatment required for reunification with the child; and (ii) abandonment.

(3)     ABANDONMENT is conduct showing intent to forego parental duties or relinquish parental claims. Examples: (i) no meaningful communication (>6 months); (ii) no regular visits (>6 months); (iii) no parent-child reunification efforts; (iv) leaving no way to identify child, parent, or custodian when deserting; (v) ignoring child protective proceedings; or (vi) any other showing of intent.

(a)      Jeopardy occurs if abandonment or absence of any person responsible for the child creates a threat of serious harm.

(E)     Failure to ensure required attendance at school.