LEWISTON — About 50 immigrant families seeking asylum in Maine will lose state-funded food stamp and Temporary Assistance to Needy Family benefits in December, according to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. About $260,000 in temporary funding for the benefits, which help 128 individuals statewide, including children, has been depleted, DHHS spokesman John […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Social service providers question direction of DHHS after high-level firings
The departure of two high-level managers in the Maine Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday left some social services providers surprised and concerned about the fate of vulnerable children and Mainers struggling with addiction. Guy Cousins, director of the Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, and Therese Cahill-Low, director of the […]
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Report: LePage administration ousts 2 DHHS managers
AUGUSTA — Two directors of key programs in the Maine Department of Health and Human Services were dismissed Wednesday morning, according to an email provided to the Bangor Daily News. In the email, which reportedly was sent to all DHHS staff Wednesday afternoon, Ricker Hamilton, the agency’s deputy commissioner of programs, confirmed the two former […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Correction: Rotundo’s committee
A story on Saturday’s front page should have reported that state Rep. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, is co-chairwoman of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. It was a reporting error.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
DHHS reverses planned cuts
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services no longer plans to cut money from mental health and substance abuse agencies. However, questions remained Friday about the funding mistake that prompted the warning of cuts and whether money would have to be made up somewhere else. DHHS had notified mental health and substance abuse agencies […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
DHHS money mistake could lead to cuts
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has told mental health and substance abuse agencies to prepare for cuts because it made a mistake in funding. However, DHHS officials wouldn’t say how much money has to be made up, what the mistake was or how it happened. They also wouldn’t say how much of […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine DHHS says it won’t exercise do-not-resuscitate order on baby
PORTLAND — The child welfare agency that won the right to make medical decisions on behalf of a brain-injured infant is backtracking, saying it will defer to the wishes of the child’s mother. Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew said in a statement that her agency will not exercise its authority […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Clients decry Maine CDC changes to HIV/AIDS assistance
LEWISTON — When Jim Pombriant needed extra help buying food, he went to his case manager at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center. He worked, so he didn’t need the help often, but proper nutrition is a big deal to people living with HIV or AIDS, especially someone who is 69 years old. He got a […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Breast-feeding mom blocked from DHHS orientation, told no kids allowed
LEWISTON — Laura Catevenis is single, has an associate degree and wants to go back to school. The 23-year-old Lewiston woman was scheduled to sit through a 90-minute orientation to enroll in the state’s ASPIRE program Thursday morning at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services’ Main Street office. She was turned away when […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Drug testing opponents speak at DHHS hearing
AUGUSTA — Opponents of a proposed rule that would require drug tests for convicted drug felons seeking cash assistance from the state argued Monday that the rule is unfair and could exacerbate a family’s efforts to right itself. No one spoke in favor of the proposed rule during a brief public hearing Monday afternoon at […]