Maine teen mental health resources.

Maine runs a single statewide crisis line — the Maine Crisis Line, at 1-888-568-1112 — available 24/7 for any child, youth, or family in a behavioral health crisis. It connects to mobile crisis teams that can come to a young person in person and stay involved with follow-up for up to 60 days after the crisis. For an immediate crisis, 988 also works statewide. Most children's coverage runs through MaineCare, the state's Medicaid program. This guide explains how the pieces fit together.

The information here comes from Maine state sources — the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and its Office of Behavioral Health, and the Bureau of Insurance — along with the state's protection and advocacy agency, all linked at the bottom.

If you need help right now

The Maine Crisis Line is the number worth saving — one line for the whole state that can bring a mobile crisis team to a young person and stay involved well after the immediate crisis.

How Maine's children's system is organized

• DHHS, Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) oversees the public behavioral health system and contracts for crisis services.
• Community mobile crisis providers deliver in-person crisis response and walk-in services across the state.
• MaineCare is Maine's Medicaid program, covering children's behavioral health.
• The Bureau of Insurance regulates private health plans and runs external review.

Crisis services and children's behavioral health

Maine's crisis services provide immediate response — in person or by phone — to all Maine children, youth, and families experiencing a mental health crisis. Mobile crisis teams, contracted through community providers, are specially trained to de-escalate, assess needs, and arrange care, including face-to-face visits and follow-up for up to 60 days after the initial crisis. Maine has also been expanding its broader children's behavioral health services. Call the Maine Crisis Line or 988 to reach the system.

MaineCare and coverage

Most Maine children get coverage through MaineCare (Medicaid). Under the federal EPSDT benefit, children and adolescents under 21 are entitled to all medically necessary services to treat physical and mental health conditions; the standard is medical necessity, not a fixed cap. If a service is denied, you have the right to a plan appeal and a Medicaid fair hearing.

Residential treatment and what to verify

For youth who need 24-hour care, Maine uses licensed residential and inpatient programs accessed through MaineCare or the public system for those who meet medical necessity. Before any placement:

• Confirm the program is state-licensed and that placement is being coordinated through MaineCare or the public system, which aims for the least restrictive appropriate option.
• Be cautious about out-of-state placements. Families are sometimes steered toward out-of-state residential or wilderness programs Maine would not license. Hartley's investigative cluster explains why that pattern deserves skepticism.
• Ask about restraint and seclusion, staffing, and discharge planning — and get the answers in writing.

Insurance and parity

For privately insured families, mental health and substance use coverage is protected by the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which requires plans to apply no more restrictive rules to behavioral health care than to medical care. When a state-regulated plan denies care, Maine's Bureau of Insurance provides an external review after you complete the insurer's internal appeals — generally requested within 12 months of the final decision.

The Maine Bureau of Insurance can be reached at 800-300-5000. For self-funded ERISA (large-employer) plans, the federal external review process and complaints to the U.S. Department of Labor apply instead. In every case, get the denial in writing with the specific criteria used, and ask your teen's clinician to document medical necessity.

School-based mental health resources

School counselors and social workers are usually a family's fastest entry point for evaluations, 504 plans, and IEP processes when a teen's mental health is affecting school. Maine's larger districts — Portland, Lewiston, and Bangor — have invested in school counseling, and a mobile crisis team can respond to a crisis at school. If your teen is struggling academically because of anxiety, depression, or another condition, start with the school counselor and ask specifically about evaluation timelines.

Other Maine-specific resources

What this guide doesn't cover (yet)

• Regional resource pages for Greater Portland, central Maine, and Down East / rural Maine
• A directory of community mobile crisis providers
• A step-by-step walkthrough of a mobile crisis response and follow-up
• How Maine authorizes and oversees residential treatment
• Maine's adolescent substance use treatment landscape

If something here is wrong or out of date, please tell us.

Sources

1. Maine DHHS, Office of Behavioral Health, "Crisis Services," maine.gov/dhhs
2. Maine DHHS, "Children's Behavioral Health Programs and Services," maine.gov/dhhs
3. Maine DHHS, "Hotlines / Crisis Numbers" (Maine Crisis Line), maine.gov/dhhs
4. Maine Bureau of Insurance, "Complaints / Appeals / External Reviews," maine.gov/pfr
5. Disability Rights Maine, Maine protection and advocacy agency, drme.org
6. Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA).