Rep. Holly Stover, D-Boothbay, introduced a bill to create a kinship navigator program to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services on Tuesday, March 16.

The bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to create a position to oversee all matters related to the placement of a child in kinship care. Kinship care refers to the care of children by relatives, or in some situations, close family friends. 

LD 699 would embed the navigator position within the department to provide resources and information about the services needed to support a child in a kinship placement. In the past, kinship services have been provided through contracted services, and creating a position within the department would result in higher quality care by giving that navigator access to records and information that the Office of Child and Family Services workers are permitted to have.

"The goal of this bill is to provide the highest quality kinship care to Maine's children and their families," said Stover. "Too often, these situations can require a crisis response and the creation of this position would create a consistent contact within the Department to ensure continuity and sustainability in kinship care." 

The committee will hold a work session on the bill in the coming weeks. 

Stover is serving her second term in the Maine House and represents Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb, Southport, Westport Island and part of South Bristol. She sits on the Health and Human Services Committee and the Government Oversight Committee.