In Maine, a man overseeing a mother’s drug test allegedly forces her to strip and stares at her. Then, it allegedly got worse. The family police agency, on the other hand, is only too glad to look the other way.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services gives its response
to the allegations.

Of all the people who defend the take-the-child-and-run status quo in child welfare, I’ve encountered none more fanatical about making poor people pee into cups than Maine’s “Child Advocate” Christine Alberi. But perhaps Alberi should start worrying less about whether enough impoverished parents are being humiliated than about how far the humiliation can go. 

Consider what allegedly happened to one woman who, according to news accounts from the Ellsworth American and NewsCenter Maine 

has been going to Peak Outcome Partners' office in Ellsworth to provide urine samples for around two years, as suggested by her DHHS caseworker to get her children back from state custody, according to court documents. 

On this occasion, the man supervising the screen allegedly 

[had] the woman strip naked from the waist down, pull up her shirt to her chest and turn around while he observed her … 

Then after the test, he allegedly 

grabbed her buttock, touched her breast and her genitals through her clothing, asked numerous times for “a quickie” and grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving the office, the affidavit stated. 

The man doing the screening has been charged with criminal restraint and unlawful sexual touching. 

Of course, this isn’t the norm. It’s a horror story. But the local district attorney got to the heart of why we might not know how often this happens in Maine or anywhere else: 

“The allegations suggest a serious imbalance of power in the circumstances, and a vulnerable victim might feel intimidated by a perception that they are at risk by making a complaint,” said District Attorney Bob Granger. “I’m grateful that the victim in this case found the courage to come forward.” 

Equally disturbing is the way the Maine family police agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, went into full Sergeant Schultz mode: We know nothing! This was a subcontractor of a provider! 

Here is their entire statement: 

"Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Child and Family Services does not contract for toxicology/urinalysis services; when provided, these services are paid for by the Department on an ad hoc basis. The Department has no role in the oversight of provider employment practices or subcontractor engagement." 

Notice what’s missing. Not one word about investigating what happened and seeing if they need to demand more from their providers and subcontractors to be sure it doesn’t happen again. Not even a word of concern for the victim, let alone any mention of reaching out to help her. 

So far, there’s also been not a word of any kind from any lawmakers. And, of course, no expression of concern from Alberi. Only the district attorney, to his credit, seems to care. 

There are a couple of other questions here: 

Why was this woman being told that she needed to give samples, over and over and over for two years “as suggested by the DHHS caseworker to get her children back from state custody”? “Suggested”? Most likely, that was an error in the court documents. But we need to be sure this doesn’t mean caseworkers are free to make such “suggestions” whenever they damn well feel like it. Because, of course, any such “suggestion” from the caseworker who effectively can decide if you’ll ever get your child back is an offer you can’t refuse. 

Also: why has it gone on for so long? (Looking on the bright side, this caseworker may well be praised in Alberi’s next report.) 

And why is a man ever allowed to stare at a woman when she is required to give a urine sample? He’s not – unless there’s no woman available. In that case, there’s a protocol designed to minimally protect the woman’s privacy. Obviously, the man charged in this case allegedly didn’t follow that protocol. 

But why is this ever allowed under any circumstances? I’ll bet if every state legislator had to pee into a cup once a week during the legislative session, they’d be sure there were enough same-sex screeners always available. 

But thanks in no small measure to those with Christine Alberi’s mindset, the overwhelmingly poor, disproportionately nonwhite parents caught in the family police net are viewed as too subhuman to be allowed even that shred of dignity, and too subhuman for the family police agency to express even a shred of concern.