Hearings on child protection should stay closed, panel says

AUGUSTA – Maine should continue to close all hearings in child protective cases unless a judge decides otherwise case by case, a committee that has been studying custody issues for the Legislature says.

Grandparents, foster parents and others can sometimes take part in hearings. But the Committee to Review the Child Protective System, which considered a proposal to open those sessions to more observers, is taking a position that others who don’t have a direct stake in a case should not be allowed to attend.

However, the committee said more people with a legitimate personal interest should be allowed to attend custody hearings.

The 12-member panel was created by the Legislature after last January’s killing of a 5-year-old girl who was in foster care in a Chelsea home. A final report is to be submitted to lawmakers, who reconvene in January.

Sen. Karl Turner, co-chairman of the committee, said he favors making proceedings and records more open than they are now.