| | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: |
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| | | Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §4004, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2001, c. 11, §4, is | | further amended to read: |
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| | | 1. General. The department may take appropriate action, | | consistent with available funding, that will help prevent child | | abuse and neglect and achieve the goals of section 4003 and | subchapter XI-A 11-A, including: |
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| | A. Developing and providing services which that: |
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| | | (1) Support and reinforce parental care of children; |
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| | | (2) Supplement that care; and |
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| | | (3) When necessary, substitute for parental care of | | children; |
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| | | B. Encouraging the voluntary use of these and other | | services by families and children who may need them; |
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| | | C. Cooperating and coordinating with other agencies, | | facilities or persons providing related services to families | | and children; |
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| | | D. Establishing and maintaining a Child Protective Services | | Contingency Fund to provide temporary assistance to families | to help them provide proper care for their children; and |
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| | | E. Establishing a child death and serious injury review | | panel for reviewing deaths and serious injuries to children. | | The panel consists of the following members: the Chief | | Medical Examiner, a pediatrician, a public health nurse, | | forensic and community mental health clinicians, law | | enforcement officers, departmental child welfare staff, | | district attorneys and criminal or civil assistant attorneys | | general. |
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| | | The purpose of the panel is to recommend to state and local | | agencies methods of improving the child protection system, | | including modifications of statutes, rules, policies and | procedures.; and |
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| | | F.__Establishing a technical review panel to conduct | | comprehensive, multidisciplinary reviews of maternal and infant | | deaths in this State, for the purpose of identifying the factors | | associated with the deaths and making recommendations for system | | changes to improve services for women with infants in the State.__ | | Members of the panel |
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