More than one hundred caseworkers, aides and community care workers in Maine’s Office of Child and Family Services said Thursday they have no confidence in their director and want Gov. Janet Mills to replace her immediately, citing failures to tackle safety issues related to kids the state holds in hotels and a “blatant failure to listen” to staff concerns.
The letter of no confidence in Office of Child and Family Services Director Bobbi Johnson from 145 workers comes 11 months into Johnson’s tenure as the child welfare agency’s permanent director. Johnson, who has worked for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services for about 30 years, replaced Todd Landry after he resigned in November 2023 amid dozens of Maine kids dying in abuse or neglect-related cases in recent years.
Johnson led a management audit at the start of her tenure and pledged to work with caseworkers who had repeatedly reported feelings of burnout and a lack of support from higher-ups, but the no confidence letter is a sign of ongoing problems.
Namely, the workers zero in on schedules and Maine’s practice of holding some children in state custody — the kids, for example, may have histories in the juvenile justice system and have no foster families willing to take them — in hotel rooms under the supervision of social workers. The letter said children have assaulted staff in hotel rooms and that staff have been required to cover hotel shifts before immediately going to court hearings without having time to prepare.
The letter also said Johnson ignored staff concerns around “unilateral” changes to an intake scheduling plan that were announced in June and implemented in November. It claims staff have been required to cover multiple shifts within 24 to 36 hours, including having to transport children in state custody, and said not all staff have been certified to administer medications.
“Director Johnson consistently demonstrates a blatant failure to listen to the concerns of the frontline OCFS staff prior to or even post-implementation of policies and procedures, jeopardizing Maine’s vulnerable citizens and the OCFS staff who serve them,” the letter said.
The letter asks Mills and Health and Human Services Commissioner Sara Gagne-Holmes to immediately replace Johnson. Gagne-Holmes said in a statement Thursday that Johnson has visited every child welfare district in the state at least three times, listened to frontline staff and considered their concerns since becoming director.
“We recognize no single measure can solve every challenge in a system this complex, but the director’s commitment to listening, adapting, and supporting staff is unwavering,” Gagne-Holmes said. “Director Johnson has my full support, and I remain confident in her compassionate, responsive and effective leadership.”
Mills spokesperson Ben Goodman said the governor has “full confidence” in Johnson.
“The allegations and personal attacks against Director Johnson are meritless and this extreme approach by the union is not productive, nor does it serve the long-term shared goal of trying to reduce the use of hotels,” Goodman said.
The state employees’ union noted in a Thursday news release that 2,507 children were in state custody as of September, according to the most recent state data. In July 2018, the state had 1,724 children in its custody.
Maine’s Child Welfare Data Dashboard also tracks the number of instances of abuse or neglect of children per 100,00 days spent in state custody. As of September, counties with rates above a national standard of 8.5 instances of abuse per 100,000 days included Aroostook, York, the district including Franklin, Androscoggin and Oxford counties and the district including Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties.
The no confidence letter said the practice of holding children in hotels has become a “worsening” problem as the number of children in state custody has increased. The letter reiterates a lack of response to their past efforts to share concerns with Johnson and leaders.
Mills and Gagne-Holmes, the letter adds, should “move beyond platitudes by working with the Legislature and frontline OCFS workers in developing alternatives to warehousing children in emergency rooms and hotels.”