View the original

BANGOR, Maine — State government officials told Mainers a year ago that privatizing the Elizabeth Levinson Center, which provides care for severely mentally retarded Maine children and young adults, was necessary to save money.

But as the center’s expected savings after privatization for this fiscal year have shrunk from $400,000 to just a few hundred dollars, officials now are saying that the primary reason to privatize the state-owned and state-operated facility was simply to get out of the business of providing direct care.

“We see the state’s role as quality assurance and quality oversight,” Jane Gallivan, director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Adults with Cognitive and Physical Disabilities, said Thursday.