Immediate danger / emergency
Call 911 for immediate danger or if someone may be harmed now. Use 988 or the Maine Crisis Line for emotional crisis.
Official Maine doors v2
Official Maine help doors, organized by the problem in front of you.
This page is the verified routing layer for Maine family matters: courts, DHHS/OCFS, child support, 211, housing, legal aid, and safety-support doors.
JTforME explains the route. Official agencies, qualified advocates, legal-aid providers, and courts remain the source for current procedure, eligibility, and live help.
Source freshness: links and labels in this directory were reviewed against public official/trusted-help sources on 2026-05-16. Network availability still depends on the outside sites.
Choose the door first
Do not start with paperwork if safety, housing, food, or crisis support is the real first problem.
Use this route order: immediate danger → crisis/safety advocate → 211/local support → official court/DHHS/child-support door → legal aid or qualified help → JTforME/FOCaF printable tools.
Directory
Official and trusted-help doors
Use the search box at the top of the site or scan by category below. External links open official or trusted-help sources where practical.
211 Maine
Statewide referral route for housing, food, family support, crisis referrals, transportation, and local service matching.
Maine Judicial Branch family matters
Official court process, family topics, forms, protection cases, GAL information, and court-location information.
Court forms database
Official form source. Use current official forms and check whether a form must come from a clerk or requires court-specific handling.
Parental rights and responsibilities
Official Maine page for unmarried parents and PR&R basics. Pair with the Court A-Z page for plain-English routing.
Changing or enforcing an order
Official court page for motions to modify and enforcement after a family order is already in place.
Protection orders
Use safety support first. Then use official court and advocacy doors for PFA/PFH routes.
Guardian ad litem
Official GAL pages, family-matter GAL information, roster, and complaint route.
DHHS / OCFS child welfare
Official OCFS door for child welfare, child abuse/neglect reporting, and child-safety processes.
Maine child support services
DSER child-support services can help with paternity, support obligations, collections/enforcement, and locating parents; it does not handle every family-court issue.
Pine Tree Legal Assistance
Civil legal-aid and self-help information including family, housing, benefits, and safety-related topics.
Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project
Family-law clinics and civil legal-assistance route for eligible Mainers.
MaineHousing
Rental assistance, housing vouchers, subsidized housing, and emergency shelter/housing assistance information.
AccessMaine
Statewide resource guide connecting people to public programs, services, and other support categories.
Guardrails
What this page does — and does not do.
It routes; it does not replace official instructions.
Use the directory to find the right door, then verify details against the official page, clerk, agency, qualified advocate, or lawyer.
It keeps safety ahead of litigation.
If abuse, coercive control, stalking, sexual assault, child safety, self-harm, or immediate danger is involved, use safety support first.
It separates public education from private intake.
Do not send child names, sealed records, private allegations, or emergency facts through JTforME or public forms.
Next routes
After you find the right official door.
Court Process A-Z
Plain-English routing for Maine family-court topics.
Open Court A-ZForms + Filing Matrix
A practical index that points back to official form sources.
Open forms matrixStart Here
When you are overwhelmed, start with the simplest route.
Start here