Family Advocacy of Maine (FAM) is dedicated to defending Maine families against unnecessary separation and advocating for reforms to the family policing system in Maine.
FAM provides representation to parents and caregivers entangled in a "child welfare" system in that has the potential to inflict grave harm to both children and their families .
FAM's goal is keep families safely together or reunify familes as soon as possible, when a separation does occur. At every point in a case, we seek to provide comprehensive advise, assistance and zealous legal representation to the familes we work with.
"I call our current child welfare system a family policing system because it was designed and operates to police families. When allegations of child abuse or neglect are received by this system, it does not respond by seeking to provide the resources that families need. It treats these allegations as accusations against parents. It investigates them and monitors families, sometimes for years on end, with extremely intensive surveillance into every aspect of their private lives, far more than a police arrest would trigger." - Professor Dorothy Roberts