AUGUSTA, Maine — A state program that delivers $33 million in services for children with disabilities lacks accountability in its oversight and spending, according to an independent review.
Child Development Services has overrun its budget for the past several years, requiring the state to funnel millions of extra dollars to the program to meet federal requirements for special education.
Lawmakers asked the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, the Legislature’s watchdog agency, to review the program’s spending. In its report, OPEGA found responsibility for the program was scattered, with the Maine Department of Education as the lead agency, another body tasked with some of its administration, and regional sites that independently managed services in different areas.
“The organizational structure of the CDS System is different than any other OPEGA has encountered in Maine State Government and seems to hinder the clear and comprehensive management of the CDS program on a statewide basis,” the report stated.
The Department of Education has worked to streamline the structure, including consolidating 16 regional sites into nine. In recent months, the department has focused on getting the program’s budget back on track, reacting to rule changes in the MaineCare program, and improving transparency, according to Deputy Commissioner Jim Rier.
OPEGA’s findings didn’t come as a surprise to Rier or Commissioner Stephen Bowen.
“Nobody ever sat down and designed this system,” Bowen said Thursday at a meeting of the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee, where the report was presented. “This thing has evolved for years and years and years. Every new Legislature and every new administration has come in and taken a swing at it.”
OPEGA also found that the Education Department has failed to adequately monitor Child Development Services’ budget. Last November, an additional $3.6 million had to be shifted to cover its deficit.
State money accounted for about three-quarters of the program’s $33.5 million budget in the 2011 fiscal year.
“I think we’re light-years ahead of where we were when I came to this job, but … there’s more to do,” Bowen said.
While Child Development Services’ culture is rightly focused on quality services for children, potential savings are missed because not enough attention is paid to providing those services efficiently, the report found.
The program serves children with disabilities from birth to age 5 in accordance with requirements outlined in the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. The act requires public schools to develop individualized education plans for each student and specifies that students are entitled to services such as counseling, speech therapy and parent training.
While Child Development Services has worked to trim administrative costs, expenses for providing services continue to be high, OPEGA found. The mindset at Child Development Services is that service costs can’t be controlled because the law requires coverage for all eligible children, according to the report.
“That autistic child is very, very expensive,” said Sen. Nancy Sullivan, D-Biddeford, a member of the committee. “Unless we take the view that a certain child with a certain problem is too much money, [and] we’re going to discard that child, those costs are going to go up.”
The lack of efficiency presents the risk that some children receive more services than they need while others don’t get enough, the report states.
OPEGA’s report also said lack of coordination among Child Development Services, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services creates the potential for fraud and abuse in the MaineCare program, which is billed for some of the services.
Additionally, staff productivity should be monitored more consistently and electronic data better managed, the report found.
Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, said the Legislature has been working on Child Development Services issues for a long time.
“I hope that, as a result of the work you’ve done, we can come up with something that’s a little more open, more transparent,” he said.
A public comment session on the report is scheduled for Aug. 14.
BDN writer Matthew Stone contributed to this report.
Keep draining the swamp Governor…Good job…
That is the good work of OPEGA, not the Governor…
If not for Governor LePage and his administration, nothing of this kind would be happening. OPEGA has been around for years, but was hamstrung by previous administrations. One only needs tos look at the years when King and Baldacci were “running the store.” Or, not, as was the case.
If the problem is the federal government is requiring more spending for special needs education it sounds like the feds should be footing more of the bill….
A child with a disability placed in a theraputic foster home: Between 80.00-100.00 a day to the homecare provider, special education services while at school, summer school program, one on one services up to 30-35 hours a week (many times including coming into the home in the morning and getting the child dressed, fed and on the bus — and in the afternoon picked up form school and taken out until it is time for bed) — I understand the need for theraputic foster homes, however, am confused about why there is an overlap of services. If the child is in a theraputic foster home shouldn’t that home be prepared to deal with getting the child off to school (then the child is gone all day to school), then shouldn’t the home be responsible for the afternoon care of the child. Seems like a lot of money is being spent for each child. I am all for children receiving good care which is why the need for theraputic foster homes — however then that provider should be responsible for the care of the child. I do know this to be true because I work in an area that provides one of these services but am also a taxpayer and know that each of these services cost money.
You need to do some more research – your assertion that therapeutic foster care rates are $80-$100 aren’t even in the ball park. Try cutting that number by a half or a third or more. Since the first sentence of your post is grossly inaccurate, I didn’t see any point in reading beyond that first sentence.
Therapeutic foster homes do pay at a much higher rate than regular foster care. I do know this I have taken the training to provide this service for both children and adults. My assertion that the rate for this level of care is accurate! You’d better check your facts.
Do your research — CDS has nothing to do with therapeutic foster homes — it has to do with children with disabilities — the vast majority of which are not connected to child protective services or foster home services in any way — CDS provides FEDERALLY mandated special education evaluations, identification, and services for 3 – 5 year olds (this is NOT covered by the public school — even when there is a public pre-k program – it is still CDS that is responsible for all aspects of special education until a child is kindergarten eligible) and early intervention evaluations, identification, and services for children 0-2
” The Child Development Services (CDS) system is an Intermediate Educational Unit that provides both Early Intervention (birth – two years) and Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE for ages three – five years) under the supervision of the Maine Department of Education. The CDS system ensures the provisions of Special Education Rules – Federal and State Regulations statewide through a contractual or grant relationship between the Department of Education and each regional site.Provides case management and direct instruction for children birth through age five and their families.Conducts ChildFind (the process of identifying children with disabilities) screenings and evaluations for children birth through age five.Identifies eligible children through Part C or Part B and secure local service access for services.Provides Early Intervention and Special Education programming in the following areas:
Physical Gross/Fine motor skillsCognitiveCommunication (Speech and Language)Social/EmotionalAdaptive”
I was just saying in general it cost a lot of money to meet the needs of a special needs child. I wasn’t talking about regular foster care — I was referring to “theraputic foster homes” which does pay its providers at a much higher rate! I do know how much people get paid for this service so I’m not even going to go there with you. I also know that there is overlap in services with these children — everyone is getting a fistful.
Of course the agency lacks accountability – that is the requirement for all MSEA SEIU entities. This is yet another example of the grossly expensive wage, benefit & retirement packages sucking monies away from a program’s intent. This debacle is of course, brought to you by kowtowing democrats. And in the end, those who truly need the help don’t receive it. They are victims of what is nothing less than a public sector extortion scheme. Unbelievable.
This is a tough issue, right now we are looking at a national election where people hate companies like Bain Capital however we forget liberal or conservative we need to Bain Capital our lives, our schools, our businesses. Cutting waste, making results happen or cutting our losses and trying a new approach is actually progressive. I work for California State government. I worked for a social service provider in Maine. In the particular field I was in there was not only waste but massive inefficency. Because the institution has a particular mission it doesn’t mean it is doing it’s mission well. Social Services should be run by people with business sense. My experience in dealing with a provider of social services in Maine was that it was run like a jobs program for the people who couldn’t get a job in private industry.
It breaks my heart that this is happening, and in my home state for sure. I’m gald California isn’t the only place with problems…. Of course our problems are in the billions of dollars and the people who create the problems will never lose their jobs. There is no justice, especially not for these disabled kids.
Unfunded mandates are a huge issue as one poster mentioned.
This report, like the others done by OPEGA for state departments and agencies, clearly illustrates the lousy management fostered under both the King and Baldacci administrations.
We can add Child Protective Services to the list, which already includes the MTA, MSHA, DHHS, DOE, the Maine Bond Bank, the Maine Green Energy Alliance, and the Bureau of General Services.
At this rate, it will be ten years before the mess in Augusta is sorted out. The total amount of waste, fraud, and squandered money will probably never be known, but the figure could easily be termed “staggering.”