Sweetser launches Maine’s only community-based youth mental health program after critical fed report

Federal reports show Maine is critically lacking youth treatment options

SACO – Sweetser has opened the State’s only Child Assertive Community Treatment program following a federal report showing that Maine has critically failed to address youth mental health with the lack of community-based programs.

Child ACT is often referred to as a service for difficult to reach children with severe mental health challenges, ages 5 to 20, who are on MaineCare and who might have experienced gaps in care. Services are provided in the child’s own natural environment, including at home and in school, helping to avoid costly hospitalization. This community-based approach is something the United States Department of Justice Human Rights Division has deemed a necessity.

According to a letter from the Department of Justice in 2022 to Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and Gov. Janet Mills, the DOJ had “determined that Maine is violating the ADA by failing to provide behavioral health services to children in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.”

Reports found that the state unnecessarily relies on segregated settings like psychiatric hospitals and residential treatment facilities to provide these services. The lack of care has led to children being separated from their families and communities.

To address this gap in services, Sweeter’s goal is to provide children and their families in Southern Maine with a clinician, nurse practitioner, case manager, youth support specialist, and family support specialist that will help improve the client’s functioning while remaining in more natural support settings.

“We are in the midst of a youth mental health crisis and the time is now for our state to be investing more in various services for children and their families,” Sweetser’s President & CEO Jayne Van Bramer said. “Sweetser is proud to step up for our state to ensure every Maine family has access to community-based treatment.”

The Federal findings came on the 23rd anniversary of Olmstead v. L.C., a court decision that held that people with disabilities have a right to live and receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs — typically in their homes and communities instead of in institutions.

“This modality of treatment ensures a child’s full range of behavioral health needs will be met,” Wendy Anders, Sweetser’s senior director of community services said. “Families need options and children need support. While there is certainly a place for other types of on-site care, the impact of launching this community-based program will be transformative for those we serve.”

The service area for the program is within a 25-mile radius of Saco. You can learn more about Sweetser’s Child Act program here .

If you or someone you know is in need of the Child ACT services, you can reach the PromiseLine at 1-800-434-3000 or email info@sweetser.org.