A new report from a nonprofit that tracks issues relating to Maine’s children finds that in 2020 and 2021, Maine had a record number of abused and neglected children, with one figure more than double the national average. 

The report, Maine Kids Count 2023, comes from the Maine Children’s Alliance, which itself is part of the national Kids Count Network, run by the Anne E. Casey Foundation to study children nationwide.  

The report covered issues ranging from education to mental health to economics, but perhaps the most notable statistics concerned the number of Maine’s children suffering from what the report described as “substantiated child maltreatment.” 

“To improve outcomes for Maine’s children, it is critical that we work to prevent child abuse and neglect and reduce the number of children who come into state custody,” the report’s authors wrote. 

The report cited data as recent as 2021 coming from the Maine Office of Child and Family Services. Compared to similar figures the foundation produced nationwide, Maine ranked highest in the country in the number of abused children.  

Data from 2020 indicated the “rate of child maltreatment” in Maine was 19 per 1,000 children. Not only is that the highest by far nationwide, but the report noted it was more than double the national average rate of 8.4 per 1,000 children. 

In 2021, the reported noted, there were 4,326 children “experiencing substantiated child maltreatment.” That figure is a 30% increase over the 3,286 reported in 2017. 

The maltreatment, according to the report, ranged from direct “trauma and abuse” in the home to the indirect trauma of separating children from their families and placing them into foster homes. The report’s data from the state offices included children who state officials determined were “victims of maltreatment.” 

Broader causes of maltreatment, according to the report, include “unemployment, single parenthood, housing instability, earlier childbearing, and lack of childcare.”  

In Maine specifically, the report cited “neglect, emotional abuse, domestic violence, and drug/alcohol disorders” among the root causes. 

State data cited in the report breaking down the figures by county showed that location and local median income was a factor.  

In 2021, the data showed, Somerset County had the highest rate of maltreatment statewide, at 29.8 per 1,000 children.  

Waldo County came in second at 28.0. Cumberland County, by comparison, had a rate of 8.0 per 1,000 children. 

“Rural counties have less access to a full range of substance use disorder treatment and recovery services for parents, as well as a lack of intensive community services that can keep children with behavioral health issues safely at home,” the report’s authors wrote. “These counties also have higher poverty rates than Maine’s more urban counties. Poverty can make it more challenging for parents to meet their children’s needs and is a risk factor for child maltreatment.” 

The report offered suggestions on how Maine could help stop child maltreatment, including developing a state-driven prevention plan and devoting more funding to “basic needs and services like childcare.”