An Act To Establish Limits on the Number of Hours Worked by and Workloads of Child Protective Services Caseworkers in the Department of Health and Human Services
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1825
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: MADIGAN, CRAVEN, MEYER, CLAXTON, LIBBY
Amends: 22 MRSA §4004

Legislative Document
No. 1825
H.P. 1358
House of Representatives, December 17, 2021
An Act To Establish Limits on the Number of Hours Worked by 
and Workloads of Child Protective Services Caseworkers in the 
Department of Health and Human Services
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203.
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 15, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint 
Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MADIGAN of Waterville.
Cosponsored by Representatives: CRAVEN of Lewiston, McDONALD of Stonington, 
MEYER of Eliot, Senators: CLAXTON of Androscoggin, LIBBY of Androscoggin.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §4004, sub-§4 is enacted to read:
4. Staffing.  The department shall ensure that a caseworker does not exceed the 
maximum workload and work and driving hours established pursuant to this subsection.
A. The department may not require a caseworker to work more than:
(1) Sixty hours over 7 consecutive days; or
(2) Seventy hours over 8 consecutive days.
B. The department may require a caseworker to work for up to 14 hours following 10 
consecutive hours of not working, but the department may not require a caseworker to 
drive for more than 11 hours during that shift.
C. The department shall require a caseworker to maintain a driving log for the time the 
caseworker is working.
D.  The department shall establish a maximum workload for a caseworker by 
considering factors that influence the amount of time a caseworker can adequately 
focus on each case, including, but not limited to, whether a family has multiple 
children, the level of interaction needed with parents and family members, the child’s 
placement, the number and geographic spread of rural cases and driving requirements.
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §4004, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
5. Reporting.  The department shall report on caseworker workloads and work hours 
in accordance with this subsection.
A. Whenever the maximum workload established by the department pursuant to 
subsection 4, paragraph D is exceeded by a caseworker, the department shall report to 
the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and 
human services matters and the ombudsman under section 4087-A.
B. No later than October 1, 2022, the department shall submit an initial report with its 
findings and recommendations on staffing, case load and workload in the department’s 
Office of Child and Family Services in relation to the maximum workload established 
pursuant to subsection 4, paragraph D and shall submit subsequent annual reports by 
January 31st of each year beginning in 2023 to the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters.  Information 
reported pursuant to this paragraph must include staffing, case load and workload 
levels at both the county and the district office levels.
Sec. 3. Resolve 2019, c. 34 is repealed. 
SUMMARY
This bill requires that the Department of Health and Human Services ensure that a 
caseworker in the department's Office of Child and Family Services does not work or drive 
more than a maximum number of hours in a certain period.  It repeals Resolve 2019, chapter 
34, which required the department to develop a standard case load recommendation with 
the Public Consulting Group and instead requires that the department establish a maximum 
workload for caseworkers by considering a variety of factors to ensure that caseworkers 
can adequately focus on each case.  The bill requires the department to report to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services 
matters and the child welfare ombudsman whenever a caseworker’s workload exceeds the 
maximum workload.  Resolve 2019, chapter 34 directed the department to report annually 
until 2030 on its standard case load recommendations; this bill instead requires the 
department to report annually to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over health and human services matters on the staffing, case load and workload 
assignments of caseworkers by county and district office.