AUGUSTA – The proposed merger of Maine’s two largest public agencies found broad support in a public hearing before the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services on Wednesday, but testimony reflected public caution in the face of what Rep. Thomas Kane, D-Saco, called, “the most ambitious undertaking in Maine state government in many years.”

Under terms of the proposed merger, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services would be unified into a single Department of Health and Human Services. For nearly a year, a special task force created by Gov. John Baldacci has been working to establish recommendations for the complicated merger. The process has been viewed by many as an opportunity not only to streamline the administrative and programmatic operations of the two agencies but to address growing concerns over a dysfunctional bureaucratic culture, notably within the child welfare program.

But anyone hoping to see a detailed breakdown of the new department during the hearing went away disappointed. The legislation is so general it was characterized by committee member Sen. Carol Weston, D-Montville, as “a sketch on a napkin, with the blueprint yet to be drawn.” Several people testifying in support of the measure referred to it as “enabling legislation” that does little beyond establishing the agency, naming the services it will provide, establishing an advisory board and providing for an orderly transition from the existing structure to the new one.

A tentative organizational chart presented by bill sponsors allayed some concerns, including fears that the Office of Substance Abuse would end up buried within the Bureau of Public Health. In fact, according to the chart, the new Office of Substance Abuse, currently a function of the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services, would have greater prominence, reporting directly to the commissioner’s office.

Emilie van Eeghen, board president of the Maine Association of Substance Abuse Programs, said the Office of Substance Abuse “serves as a model for how departments should be managed.” Greater independence and authority, she said, would enable the program to establish strong working relationships with other departments and agencies, as well as making a stronger case when seeking funds from private foundations.

Several of those testifying in support identified specific amendments or suggestions for the future. Elinore Goldberg, director of the Maine Children’s Alliance, praised the plan to establish a Bureau of Children and Families but urged the inclusion of juvenile justice and preschool handicapped services, currently administered by different departments. Attorney Craig Nelson, representing the Northern New England Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, recommended a stronger system for the delivery of services to the elderly.

Testifying in technical opposition, but generally supportive of the merger concept, representatives of the Maine Medical Association and the Maine Chapter of the American Lung Association urged the state to seize the opportunity to create a high-profile Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, modeled on the federal Centers for Disease Control. The center would attract greater federal and private funding, said lung association chief executive officer Ed Miller, and allow the state to more effectively address emergencies such as mass food poisonings, epidemics and bioterrorism incidents as well as ongoing health threats such as obesity and tobacco use.

The only testimony in full opposition to the creation of the new state agency came from Bangor resident and DHS critic Jim LaBreque. LaBreque charged the legislative committee with longstanding failure to adequately oversee the agencies it monitors and ignoring state and federal laws intended to reduce the number of children taken into state care.

“Until this committee shows it can do its job … this is a major disaster that can cause a lot of harm to a lot of people,” LaBreque said.

If passed, the legislation would bypass existing confirmation requirements and ensure the appointment of whomever is the commissioner of DHS to head the new DHHS. Former state budget director Jack Nicholas is acting commissioner now, and was nominated recently for the commissioner’s post. His confirmation hearing in the Senate is scheduled for March 30.

While many praise Nicholas for his financial management skills, others, including HHS committee chair Sen. Michael Brennan, D-Portland, feel Nicholas’ inexperience with health and human service programs disqualifies him for the powerful post. Brennan said Wednesday that dramatic cuts recently proposed in Medicaid services only reinforce the need for someone with a deep understanding of the clinical implications of such changes to head up the new department.

The committee and selected stakeholders will hold workshops on the DHHS legislation beginning today, before sending it for consideration by the full Legislature.