This Maine mother says ‘secure’ psychiatric facilities for minors are needed now
A bill in Augusta would require Maine DHHS to create long-term residential treatment services for minors with a high level of need
A bill in Augusta would require Maine DHHS to create long-term residential treatment services for minors with a high level of need
A bill in Augusta would require Maine DHHS to create long-term residential treatment services for minors with a high level of need
A newly proposed bill aims to address perceived gaps in Maine’s behavioral health system by creating secure, long-term residential psychiatric treatment facilities for minors with the highest levels of need.
“I can’t sit back and have other families go through what we’re going through now,” said Turner parent Michelle Richardson.
The daycare owner and mother of six said she has been struggling for years to find treatment for her 16-year-old daughter whose behaviors she calls "unmanageable."
“It has been three times this month that she has assaulted myself or her younger sister in the home,” Richardson says.
Republican state Sen. Russell Black of Franklin County introduced the bill.
Sen. Black says emergency departments in his district and statewide are overwhelmed with youth psychiatric patients, often kept there for prolonged periods of time because they’re deemed a danger to themself or others, and there are no suitable facilities to send them to.
Maine currently sends 68 minors out of state for behavioral health services, according to recent legislative testimony from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
13 of the minors places out of state are in a psychiatric residential treatment facility, according to a DHHS spokesperson.
The bill is supported by the state’s two largest health systems MaineHealth and Northern Light.
Dr. Robyn Ostrander, a psychiatrist, oversaw a secure facility before coming to MaineHealth and says the spaces ensure patient safety, and provide education and community-based services.
“A secure residential program has to have the treatment plan for each child really designed by a psychiatric team,” Ostrander said.
Richardson’s daughter is currently hospitalized in Maine.
After multiple psychiatric unit stays, residential care in Maine, and 10 months in a secure Florida facility, Richardson says she wants change now.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services opposes the bill.
The agency says they’ve been working on this issue since 2018.
A representative from the agency told a state legislative committee last week they support secure residential care but are unable to force providers to make services available.