Our Work
Regional Care Teams
We are providing backbone, facilitation, research, and data support to this Maine Department of Corrections led effort to support individual system-involved youth and their families and to help inform broader system change. The Regional Care Network is made up of individuals from youth-serving agencies, systems, organizations and communities in each Department of Corrections (DOC) region who will help support and inform the Regional Community Care Teams as well as stay connected to the process and any outcomes and lessons learned. Additionally, the state Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (JJAG) has provided emergency COVID response funds to assist these teams in supporting youth in their community. More information here.
Download the one-pager
Continuum of Care
Our proposed continuum includes the following categories: prevention, early intervention, intervention, intensive intervention, out-of-home treatment, and reintegration. These categories are based on national examples of systems of care and consultation with local and national experts. Read the report for more information about this framework.
Read the Report brief
Children of Incarcerated Parents
We are examining the impact of parental incarceration on Maine’s children and working with incarcerated mothers to make policy and practice recommendations.
Mapping Assets in Local Communities
Check out our 10-minute Virtual Community Asset Mapping video! In this presentation, we share a brief overview of the work Place Matters is doing to implement a community-based Continuum of Care across Maine and introduce the Community Asset Mapping activity.
View our Virtual Asset Mapping Presentation
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Opportunity Pathways
Opportunity Pathways is a collaborative initiative to incubate and provide services for youth who have experience with homelessness, school pushout, the mental and behavioral health system, the child welfare system, and the juvenile justice system. The aim is to support these young people to have the education, employment opportunities, and resources to achieve financial stability, such as post-secondary credentials, degrees, certificates, and access to fulfilling employment. Targeted strategies towards young people with the highest needs will have a large impact on youth well-being in the state. This will help interrupt the cycle of system involvement, incarceration, and recidivism, as well as the costly burden placed on taxpayers when individuals are unable to access education and employment opportunities. These collaborative approaches to supporting youth include a network of providers and partners working together to develop strategies, share resources, and make referrals. See some of the USM based programs such as YLAT, and YPC for more information about this work.