Resolve, to Expand Child Assertive Community Treatment
Summary
LD 1426 is an emergency resolve directing the Department of Health and Human Services to create a pilot program for child assertive community treatment (ACT). By January 1, 2026, DHHS must issue a request for applications to award a grant for one child ACT team to serve either the Lewiston or Bangor area. The selected provider must use workforce incentives to recruit, train, and retain staff, and the department must choose the awardee through a competitive process. The contract for the pilot may run no longer than two years.
The bill also requires DHHS to report to the Legislature within 90 days after the pilot ends on the program’s outcomes and whether it should continue. The health and human services committee is authorized to submit follow-up legislation based on that report. The resolve includes one-time appropriations and allocations totaling $338,782 across state and federal funding sources, including funding for provider payments and the grant itself.
Impact
The bill does not broadly rewrite Maine’s statutes, but it does create a targeted, time-limited state program within DHHS to expand access to intensive community-based behavioral health treatment for children. It adds a new pilot grant initiative, directs agency procurement and reporting duties, and appropriates funds from the General Fund, Federal Expenditures Fund, and Federal Block Grant Fund for child behavioral health services. Its practical effect is to increase service capacity for children with severe behavioral health needs in one geographic area and to establish a legislative pathway for future expansion if the pilot is successful.
Sentiment
The bill’s framing and emergency preamble indicate strong legislative concern about the scarcity of timely behavioral health services for children and a desire to act quickly. The available record does not include committee testimony or recorded votes, but the text itself signals support for an evidence-based, community-based approach to keeping children out of institutional settings. Overall, the bill appears to have been treated as a responsive public health measure rather than a controversial policy change.
Contention
No committee transcript or vote record is available, so specific objections are not documented in the provided materials. Based on the bill text, the most likely points of discussion would be the limited scope of the pilot, the choice of Lewiston or Bangor as the service area, the use of workforce incentives to address staffing shortages, and the need for ongoing funding if the pilot is expanded after the report. Any contention would likely center on cost, geographic equity, and whether a single-team pilot is sufficient to address statewide demand for child behavioral health services.
Homelessness; partnership; purpose; directing Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to oversee; funding; rules; creating the Forensic Assertive Community Treatment Program Revolving Fund; effective date; emergency.