Review and Expunction of Central Registries and Reporting Records - Maine

Right of the Reported Person to Review and Challenge Records
Citation: Code of Rules § 10-148-201

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services adopts the following procedures to govern the substantiation process and to notify and provide an appeal to persons who have been substantiated by the department as having abused or neglected a child or children.

Substantiated and indicated persons have the following rights to review a substantiation decision:  

• A paper review shall be available to a substantiated or indicated person who submits a written request as required by these rules. 
• An administrative hearing shall be available to a substantiated person whose substantiation decision was upheld after a paper review. 

A substantiated or indicated person must appeal the decision within 30 calendar days of the date the person receives notice. A substantiated or indicated person who fails to appeal within that time forfeits all right and ability to appeal the decision forever.  

The appellant shall have 30 calendar days from the date the department receives their request for a paper review to submit written information in support of their appeal. The written information may include statements from other people or argument.  

If the request for a paper review is timely, the department shall conduct the paper review within 60 calendar days after the date it receives the request for a paper review. The reviewer shall make their decision based solely upon the department's record and any additional information that the appellant submits.

The reviewer shall determine by a preponderance of the evidence whether the information in the record, taken as a whole, is sufficient to support the allegation that abuse or neglect has occurred, that the appellant was responsible for the abuse or neglect, and further, in cases of alleged neglect, that the appellant was a person legally responsible for the neglected child. The reviewer shall have the authority to overturn or sustain the prior decision to substantiate or indicate the appellant. If the reviewer overturns a decision to substantiate, the department may record the result as "indicated" without the concurrence of the reviewer or the appellant.  

Within 5 business days of completing the review, the reviewer shall notify the appellant of the decision.  

An appellant whose paper review affirms the substantiation decision shall be entitled to an administrative hearing. The appellant must request an administrative hearing in writing within 30 calendar days of the date the appellant receives notice of the results of the paper review.

The administrative hearing shall be conducted by an independent hearing officer of the department.  

At the hearing, the hearing officer shall determine by a preponderance of the evidence whether the evidence presented at the hearing, taken as a whole, is sufficient to support the allegation that the appellant had subjected the child to abuse or neglect as of the time of the substantiation determination.

The hearing officer shall make a recommendation to the commissioner to take one of the following actions on the determination of abuse or neglect:  

• Overturn it, in which case the bureau, division, or office that made the original determination may, at its discretion, record the person as either "indicated" or "unsubstantiated"
• Sustain it

When Records Must Be Expunged
Citation: Rev. Stat. Tit. 22, § 4008(5)

The Department of Human Services shall retain unsubstantiated child protective services case records for no more than 5 years following a finding of unsubstantiation and then expunge unsubstantiated case records from all departmental files or archives, unless a new referral has been received within the 5 year retention period. 

An expunged record or unsubstantiated record that should have been expunged under this subsection may not be used for any purpose, including admission into evidence in any administrative or judicial proceeding.