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The University of Maine

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Social Work

Better Than The Poorhouse?: The Origins Of Mothers’ Aid In Maine, Rebecca White Jan 2017

Better Than The Poorhouse?: The Origins Of Mothers’ Aid In Maine, Rebecca White

Maine History

Rebecca White’s article examines the origins of a new state-funded welfare system in Maine through the prism of the 1917 “Act to Provide for Mothers with Dependent Children,” also known as mothers’ aid or mothers’ allowance legislation. This law established a centralized Mothers’ Allowance Board in Augusta to oversee applications and administer state funding to eligible Maine families. This represented a shift from traditional town-based poor services to a state-funded system of aid for those considered to be worthy. This article details the sparse landscape of public and private charity available to families in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries …

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Introduction To The Early Childhood Issue, Leslie A. Forstadt, Sheryl Peavey Jan 2009

Introduction To The Early Childhood Issue, Leslie A. Forstadt, Sheryl Peavey

Maine Policy Review

Guest editors Leslie Forstadt and Sheryl Peavey introduce the articles in this special issue of Maine Policy Review on early childhood by highlighting the myriad of programs and policies affecting Maine’s young children and their families. To illus­trate the challenges faced by parents, they present the fictional account of a young woman facing an unexpected pregnancy. The story illustrates the sometimes confusing array of services, programs, and funding for young children and their parents. The authors argue “it is time to make every door into the system of early childhood services the right door for every parent.”

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Child Care And Work Challenges For Maine’S Parents Of Children With Special Needs, Helen D. Ward, Julie A. Atkins, Erin E. Oldham Jan 2009

Child Care And Work Challenges For Maine’S Parents Of Children With Special Needs, Helen D. Ward, Julie A. Atkins, Erin E. Oldham

Maine Policy Review

Research by the authors with parents, child care providers, and other service providers found that parents of children with special needs face particular challenges trying to maintain stable employment while balancing work and family. These parents have more difficulty finding and keeping child care for children with special needs, and there is a lack of coordination of therapy with child care programs. Since the study was completed, Maine has taken several steps to begin to address these issues

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The Community Caring Collaborative: Case Study Of A Grassroots Collaboration To Create A System Of Care For At-Risk Infants, Young Children, And Their Families In Washington County, Maine, Marjorie Withers Jan 2009

The Community Caring Collaborative: Case Study Of A Grassroots Collaboration To Create A System Of Care For At-Risk Infants, Young Children, And Their Families In Washington County, Maine, Marjorie Withers

Maine Policy Review

Marjorie Withers presents a case study of rural Washington County, Maine, where community-agency part­nerships are increasing services for community members and their children affected by exposure to drugs, alcohol, and other risk factors. The Community Caring Collaborative (CCC) is an effective model in part because of its structure. But most important, according to Withers, is the creation of hope and new energy in an area of the state char­acterized by longstanding feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness.

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Parent Education:“Prepare The Child For The Path, Not The Path For The Child”, Candace J. Eaton Jan 2009

Parent Education:“Prepare The Child For The Path, Not The Path For The Child”, Candace J. Eaton

Maine Policy Review

Candace J. Eaton describes why parent education is important and discusses a number of parent-educa­tion approaches and programs that currently exist in Maine. She argues that we need to increase access to research-supported programs, parent-education classes, and support groups to all geographic areas of the state and all populations. In this era of reduced funding, Eaton recommends continuous evaluation of program outcomes and the limitation of funding to programs and approaches that show positive improvements.

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The Aging Imperative In Maine: Present Realities And Future Prospects, Helen. B. Miltiades, Lenard W. Kaye Jan 2003

The Aging Imperative In Maine: Present Realities And Future Prospects, Helen. B. Miltiades, Lenard W. Kaye

Maine Policy Review

Maine has one of the oldest populations in the United States. In this article, Helen Miltiades and Lenard Kaye, guest editor for this special issue, provide an overview of Maine’s aging population and the challenges—and opportunities—faced in the “revolution in aging” that is taking place. They point out how the growing older adult population is expected to place greater demands on family caregivers, on the health and long-term care systems, and on state and federal budgetary and policy decisions. Describing some of Maine’s innovative public and private sector responses, they note that Maine has been in the forefront in providing …

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The Human Face Of Housing Policy For Rural Elders In Maine, Sandra S. Butler Jan 2003

The Human Face Of Housing Policy For Rural Elders In Maine, Sandra S. Butler

Maine Policy Review

Sandra Butler reflects on the ways in which the older households she has been encountering in her recent in-depth research in Washington County match those described by Stephen Golant in his article in this issue on the needs of elderly homeowners and the solutions to those needs. Butler’s research is based on extensive interviews with volunteers and clients of the Senior Companion Program, which has as one of its primary purposes helping elders remain in their homes as long as possible. Butler notes that she was surprised to learn how many subsidized housing complexes exist in Washington County. A number …

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Maine’S Homeless Families: An Interview With Helen Hemminger, Helen Hemminger Jan 1999

Maine’S Homeless Families: An Interview With Helen Hemminger, Helen Hemminger

Maine Policy Review

Since 1991 Helen Hemminger has been director of The Tedford Shelter, a homeless shelter serving adults and families in the Brunswick, Maine area. In this interview, Hemminger provides a first- hand account of Maine’s changing homeless population. The good news, she reports, is that the percentage of people with mental illnesses staying at the shelter has gone down. The bad news is that since 1994 the shelter has experienced a steady increase in the number of homeless families. As Hemminger notes, there are more Maine families today working very hard to make ends meet. Living on a precarious edge, one …

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Adolescent Homelessness: A Roundtable Discussion Jan 1999

Adolescent Homelessness: A Roundtable Discussion

Maine Policy Review

Where do homeless adolescents come from? Are there more homeless youth today than ten years ago? How do we help these youth? What do they need? In December 1998, these questions formed the core of a Maine Policy Review roundtable discussion featuring: State Representative Michael Quint; Dana Totman, deputy director of the Maine State Housing Authority; Christine O’Leary, coordinator of Portland’s Preble Street Resource Teen Center; Bob Rowe, executive director of New Beginnings in Lewiston; and Brad Coffey, chair of the board of Bangor’s Shaw House from 1994-1998. In their wide-ranging discussion, the participants focused on the varied circumstances that …

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