Child Abuse and Neglect in Maine: DHHS Substantiation and Indication

About DHHS and Child Abuse and Neglect

DHHS Child Protective Services investigates reports of child abuse. There are 5 different things that DHHS can do:

  1. Nothing. DHHS finds there was no abuse.
  2. DHHS finds there was no abuse but that you need help with your parenting. You could be referred to social service agencies for help. DHHS could work on a safety plan with you.
  3. DHHS “indicates” you for abuse. This is for low to moderate abuse.
  4. DHHS “substantiates” you for abuse. This is for severe abuse.
  5. DHHS could file a court case against you and remove your child from your care. This should only happen when children are in danger.

Indication

What does indication mean?

An indication means DHHS found you abused or neglected a child. The abuse or neglect must be “low to moderately severe.” Parents and other caretakers can be indicated. An agency or employee responsible for the care of children can also be indicated.

How will an indication affect me?

DHHS keeps a list of people who have been indicated. The list is confidential. DHHS should not share this information with anyone outside DHHS.

What can I do if I think DHHS is wrong?

DHHS should send you a notice when you are indicated. You have the right to have DHHS review the decision. You can request a “paper review” by sending a letter to DHHS. You can use this Indication Appeal form letter to ask for a paper review.

You have 30 days from when you get the notice to ask for a review. Mail your written request to:

Finding Reviews
Office of Child and Family Services
Department of Health and Human Services
11 State House Station
Augusta ME 04333-0011

You should keep a copy of the letter for your records.

How does the review work?

The review of an indication is a paper review. DHHS has someone new look at your case. You have 30 days after you ask for a paper review to submit more information about your case. You do not get to talk to or meet with the person reviewing your case. You can send them your own statement, witness statements and other documents.

DHHS will decide whether or not to uphold the indication. Sometimes they are turned into findings of no abuse. Sometimes they are upheld. DHHS will send you a letter about their decision. You should get the letter within 100 days of asking for a review.

If DHHS decides you should still be indicated after paper review, you only have the right to appeal the decision to an administrative hearing if you can show that the indication is likely to have a negative effect on you.  

If you think the indication will have a negative effect on you, you should request a hearing by writing to: 

Finding Reviews  
Office of Child and Family Services  
Department of Health and Human Services  
11 State House Station  
Augusta ME 04333-0011    

You should write that you are requesting an administrative hearing to appeal your indication and give details about the negative effect the indication will have on you. You can use this Indication Appeal Form Letter as a starting place. 

You must request the hearing within 30 days of when your indication was upheld in a paper review. 

 

Substantiation

What does substantiation mean?

A substantiation means DHHS found you were responsible for a child who was abused or neglected. The abuse or neglect must be “high severity.” Parents and other caretakers can be substantiated. An agency or employee responsible for the care of children can also be substantiated.

How will a substantiation affect me?

DHHS keeps a list of people who have been substantiated. Employers and state licensing agencies can run a background check to see if someone is on the list. You could lose a job or a license if you are on the list. No one can run an employment or licensing related child protective background check on you without your consent.

What can I do if I think DHHS is wrong?

DHHS should send you a notice if they substantiate you. You have the right to appeal this decision. You can request a "paper review" by sending a letter to DHHS. You can use the Substantiation Appeal form letter to ask for a review.

You have 30 days from when you get the notice to ask for a review. Mail your written request to:

Finding Reviews
Office of Child and Family Services
Department of Health and Human Services
11 State House Station
Augusta ME 04333-0011

You should keep a copy for yourself so you can prove that you requested an appeal.

How does an appeal work?

The first step in the appeal process is a paper review. DHHS has someone new look at your case. You have 30 days from when you ask for an appeal to submit more information about your case in writing. You do not get to talk to or meet with the person reviewing your case. You can send them your own statement, witness statements and other documents.

DHHS will decide whether or not to uphold the substantiation. Sometimes they are turned into indications. Sometimes they are turned into findings of no abuse. DHHS will send you a letter about their decision. You should get the letter within 100 days.

What if I lose my paper review?

If DHHS decides you should still be substantiated after paper review, you have the right to a hearing. You must request a hearing in writing within 30 days after the paper review decision. You can use this Substantiation Hearing Request form letter to ask for a fair hearing after your paper review.

You must ask for the hearing in writing and mail it to:

Finding Reviews
Office of Child and Family Services
Department of Health and Human Services
11 State House Station
Augusta ME 04333-0011

You should keep a copy of your request for your records.

DHHS will mail you a date and time for your hearing. Make sure they have your correct mailing address.

Here are some important things to know about your hearing:

  • You have the right to bring your own lawyer to the hearing  
  • You have the right to tell your own story
  • You can have witnesses testify
  • You can present your own documents, photos, and other evidence
  • You should get copies of the evidence DHHS will use before the hearing
  • You should send copies of your evidence to DHHS at least 5 days before the hearing
  • DHHS must prove that the abuse or neglect happened
  • You must argue it did not happen or it was not severe.
  • A hearing officer will listen to all the evidence and make a decision.

The hearing officer will make a decision within 30 days of your hearing. They will send you this decision in writing.

If you disagree with the hearing officer's decision, you can appeal in Superior Court. This is a complicated process. You should try to get a lawyer for this, if you can.

Special Situations

I missed my appeal deadline

You can still ask for an appeal if you missed your deadline. DHHS must grant them if:

  • it has been less than 90 days since your notice, and
  • you can show good cause for missing the deadline.

Good cause means anything that stopped you from asking for a hearing and was not your fault, like not getting your notice or a medical problem. You can use this Good Cause form letter to ask for an appeal after you have missed the deadline.

I was a minor when I was substantiated

Sometimes people are substantiated when they are minors. The same appeal deadlines do not apply. You can request a hearing any time before you turn 25 years old.

I got a notice of substantiation but I have an on-going court case about this issue

Everyone has the right to an immediate paper review of their substantiation. You should request a paper review within 30 days of when you get your notice.

DHHS does not hold hearings on substantiations if there is an open court case about the same issue. You will have to wait for the court case to be over if you have an open:

  1. Criminal case about the same facts.
  2. Child Protective case about the same facts.
  3. Civil court cases about the same facts, like a custody case.
  4. Child Protective or civil court cases about the same facts in a different state.

Sometimes a court will decide the substantiation issue. Sometimes a judge will find that you did not abuse or neglect a child. DHHS should not keep your substantiation when that happens.

Sometimes a judge will find that you did abuse or neglect a child. You cannot appeal your substantiation with DHHS when that happens.

Sometimes these cases do not decide the substantiation issue. If the judge in your case does not say whether you abused or neglected the child, you can request a hearing with DHHS. Your have 60 days to request the hearing after the court case is resolved. You should send your request in writing to:

 
Finding Reviews
Office of Child and Family Services
Department of Health and Human Services
11 State House Station
Augusta ME 04333-0011 

You should keep a copy of your request for your records.

I was substantiated before November 1, 2003

DHHS changed the way they notify people of substantiations on November 1, 2003. Most people substantiated before then did not get notice of their rights. You can ask to appeal your substantiation now if:

  1. You were substantiated before November 1, 2013;
  2. You can show that you are or will be harmed by the substantiation; and
  3. You request the appeal within 60 days of learning about how the substantiation will affect you.

You can use this Pre-2003 Substantiation form letter to appeal a Substantiation like this. You must mail a request for a hearing in writing to:

Finding Reviews
Office of Child and Family Services
Department of Health and Human Services
11 State House Station
Augusta ME 04333-0011

You should include:

  1. A statement saying you are requesting a hearing;
  2. Information about how the substantiation is causing you harm; and
  3. You learned the substantiation was causing you harm less than 60 days ago.

You should keep a copy of your request for your records.

If DHHS does not agree you should get a hearing, they should write to the Office of Administrative Hearings. You should have the opportunity to tell the Office of Administrative Hearings why you qualify to have a hearing now.

If you do not hear anything about your hearing, you can call the DHHS Office of Administrative Hearings at (207) 624-5350 to check on it.

I was indicated before February 28, 2022 

You may be able to ask for a hearing now if you got a letter of indication before February 28, 2022 and you are having negative consequences from the indication now. DHHS recently changed the rules. Because they didn’t give you the opportunity for a hearing before, they may need to now. If you would like to request a hearing on an old indication, you can write to: 

Chief Administrative Hearing Office 
Administrative Hearings Unit 
Department of Health and Human Services  
109 Capitol Street 
Augusta, ME 04333 

In your letter, you must say: 

  1. You are requesting an administrative hearing on your indication. Include the date of the original indication. 
  2. You have experienced negative effects from the indication in the last 60 days.  
  3. Describe the negative effects in as much detail as you can.  

I want DHHS to remove my old substantiation

In some cases DHHS allows for “reconsideration” of substantiations. You can ask for a reconsideration if:

  • You were substantiated before November 1, 2003. You never received any notice of the substantiation.
  • You were substantiated under an old rule or policy that has changed. You would not be substantiated if the same thing happened today.
  • Your court Child Protective case was dismissed without a finding of jeopardy.
  • You took part in the services DHHS recommended and DHHS never filed a court case against you.
  • Certain situations when you were substantiated because of a child you adopted who was making your home unsafe. 

To ask for reconsideration you must be able to show:

  1. You fit one of the situations listed above.
  2. The substantiation is causing you harm.
  3. It has been more than 3 years since your substantiation.

You can only ask for a reconsideration of your substantiation one time. You should request reconsideration in writing. You should include all of the information listed above. Mail your request to:

Finding Reviews
Office of Child and Family Services
Department of Health and Human Services
11 State House Station
Augusta ME 04333-0011

Can PTLA help me with these issues?

You have the right to have a lawyer at any time during the DHHS appeal process. If you cannot afford a lawyer, Pine Tree Legal Assistance may be able to help you. We can only take a limited number of cases, but we may consider your case if:

  • you are a survivor of domestic violence and you were substantiated for failure to protect your child;
  • you are a parent with a mental illness; or
  • you stand to lose a professional license or job due to the substantiation or indication.

Use our Interactive Legal Resource Guide to find out if we might be able to help you, and to learn about more resources about indication and substantiation.

November, 2022

PTLA #353