Our History
In 1998 the State of Maine DHHS had an inordinate number of children placed in residential care “out of State”. In an effort to bring Maine children back to Maine the DHHS approached Harbor Schools of Massachusetts and requested that they build residential programming to assist them in bringing Maine children back home. Under separate incorporation from Harbor Schools of Massachusetts, Harbor Schools of Maine was created and in August of 1999 the Maine DHHS licensed our first residential program for boys in Winterport Maine. In affiliation with Acadia Hospital for psychiatric and counseling services Harbor Schools of Maine was established as a critical resource for Maine children who had been separated from their families due to lack of residential programming in the State of Maine.
Shortly thereafter, Harbor Schools of Maine purchased and began renovations on our second residential program located in Rockport (now known as Rockport 1). The new program was licensed and accepted children in November of 2000.
Having successfully opened our first two programs with very positive results for children and families, DHHS awarded Harbor Schools of Maine a contract to serve adolescent males with co-occurring disorders (mental health and substance abuse) in a new facility built next to the existing Rockport program. The project (now known as Rockport 2) was completed and opened its doors as Harbor Schools of Maine’s third fully licensed residential program in March of 2003. This program was the first residential treatment program in the state of Maine for adolescents with co-occurring disorders.
In October 2004, Harbor Schools of Maine welcomed the Aspenledge Transition Home (a former program of Acadia Hospital) into its family of programs.
As part of our Strategic Vision, in April 2005, Harbor Schools of Maine went through a reorganization of administrative and clinical operations in an effort to further our mission and vision. The administrative reorganization included the creation of a Maine based financial office in Topsham and the addition of a Director of Operations to oversee the transition. In July of 2005 Harbor Schools of Maine separated itself from affiliation with Harbor Schools of Massachusetts and Acadia Hospital and became a fully licensed Mental Health agency now known as Harbor Family Services (HFS). As a fully licensed Mental Health agency HFS created full time clinicians and registered nurses in all residential programs.
In July of 2006 HFS opened our Community & Outpatient Services Program (now known as the Family Center). This program currently provides HCT, ACT, TCM, and Med Management. The program is currently located in Rockport.
Harbor Family Services became Nationally Accredited with the Council on Accreditation in 2007 which we believe enhances our ability to provide the utmost quality programs and services for the children and families of Maine.
