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Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

ME: Juvenile Justice

A report finds nationally, Black and Latino kids were 50% more likely to face incarceration than their white peers in 2019. (mario beauregard/Adobe Stock)
Report: Too Many Youth Incarcerated in Maine, Across U.S.

Almost a quarter-million American children were incarcerated in 2019, and a new report found it is about five times more than states' annual point-in-…

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Maine has more than 2,000 children in foster care, but not enough families for family placements. (cristalov/Adobe Stock)
Groups: Maine Foster Youths Need More Families Available for Placements

PORTLAND, Maine -- About 2,200 children are in foster care in Maine, and agencies say there are not enough families who are actively able to accept …

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A 2017 report found staff at Long Creek were using dangerous force, and reports in September 2021 indicate those practices have continued. (Maine Youth Justice)
Young Mainers Call for Closure of Long Creek Detention Facility

PORTLAND, Maine -- A youth group advocating for keeping young people in their communities is calling on the Mills administration to close the Long …

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A recent juvenile-justice task force found that many youths are in detention because of a lack of community-based alternatives and wait lists for existing programs. (Chatiyanon/Adobestock)
Staff Shortages Threaten Mental-Health System for Basic Services

AUGUSTA, Maine -- With about three weeks left in the legislative session, mental-health advocates want lawmakers to increase the funding for …

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Day One is the only Maine agency that provides an adolescent residential substance-use treatment program. (motortion/Adobe Stock)
Groups Decry Lack of Substance-Use Treatment for Young Mainers

AUGUSTA, Maine - As Maine's legislative session nears an end, groups are urging lawmakers to prioritize making mental health and substance-use …

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More than half of the young people detained at Long Creek, the state's only juvenile-corrections facility, are there simply because they need care and have nowhere else to go, according to a Maine Juvenile Justice Task Force report released in February. (Christopher Poulos/Facebook)
Prompted by Pandemic, Youth Detention Rate Plummets in Maine

PORTLAND, Maine -- There are 43% fewer young people in detention in Maine since the first of March, in an effort to curb the spread of the …

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A bill recommends two to four
State Task Force Urges Maine to Phase Out Only Juvenile Facility

AUGUSTA, Maine -- A task force in Maine is recommending that the state's only juvenile-corrections facility be emptied within three years. A group …

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Critics charge that Long Creek, Maine's prison for juveniles, is not organized or staffed to deal with the real needs of those young people. (Richard Ross/AECF)
Task Force Finding Maine Juvenile Justice System Dysfunctional

AUGUSTA, Maine - The task force looking at Maine juvenile justice is finding signs the whole system is upside down. Jill Ward, project manager of …

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Maine ranks among the highest states for placement of children and teens in foster care with relatives and families.  (Juhan Sonin/Flickr)
Report: Maine Leads in Placing Foster Youth with Families

ELLSWORTH, Maine – A new Annie E. Casey Foundation report shows that more young people in foster care have been placed with families than in …

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Maine is making major strides in dropping the number of youthful offenders held in detention thanks to a national program that aims to keep kids in school and not in jail. (J. Iwakiri/Twitter).
Major Strides in Detention Diversion for Juvenile Offenders in Maine

AUGUSTA, Maine – It's a dramatic drop since 2014; the number of juveniles being committed to detention in Maine is down by 36 percent. Erica …

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A new report says there will be better outcomes for juvenile offenders in Maine and the nation through alternative community-based programs. (Maine Inside Out)
Maine Advocates Agree with New Report: Youth Prisons Aren't Fit for Kids

AUGUSTA, Maine -- Kids should not be kept behind bars - that's the message of a new report examining the ineffectiveness of youth prisons in Maine …

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The Long Creek Development Center is among 80 old and large prisons that a new national campaign called Youth First says needs to be closed. (Google Earth)
Youth First Campaign Calls for Closing Long Creek Youth Center

PORTLAND, Maine - The time has come to close the Long Creek Youth Development Center, according to a new national campaign called Youth First…

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