In its most recent editorial on the Massachusetts State Department of Children and Families, the Patriot Ledger wrote:
"It is no longer open to debate: the Massachusetts state Department of Children and Families Services is a dysfunctional agency whose collective actions and systemic negligence are intolerable and border on criminal.
"It is no longer open to debate: the Massachusetts state Department of Children and Families Services is a dysfunctional agency whose collective actions and systemic negligence are intolerable and border on criminal.
The case involving the 7-year-old Middleboro boy who was beaten and burned by someone is just another fiasco that has DCF officials admitting they made errors.
DCF visited the Middleboro family several times over a period of months but never checked the boy for burns on his genitals that school officials discovered or for welts on his back from being beaten with a belt. The agency also conceded the man charged with the abuse, David Privette, had a drug conviction as well as a conviction for assault on a police officer.
DCF counseled the mother and her boyfriend against corporal punishment but, in the assessment of Middleboro Police Chief Gary Russell, “this little boy was sent home to be tortured for another 13 days.” Russell said DSS never notified his department of the allegations, which could have resulted in an arrest sooner.
Rebecca Riley of Hull died in 2006 from an overdose of medications, which prosecutors charge was an intentional act by her parents who are awaiting trial on murder charges. There also were bruises on Rebecca’s body, including on her thighs.
But DCF had visited the family following allegations of abuse and never found a problem despite Rebecca’s father awaiting trial at the time for rape of a minor.
Yeah, we missed the boat on that one, DCF said after Rebecca’s death.
Haleigh Poutre, Aidyn Hudson, Dontel Jeffers, the Warren, Mass., home where 10 children were beaten and sexually abused for a decade; the list isn’t endless but it is maddening and, when one thinks about the pain and suffering inflicted on helpless children, heart-wrenching.
DCF actions in the Riley and Poutre cases triggered a legislative investigation and recommendations. Among those was the recently passed bill that allows DSS to collect and maintain information on unsubstantiated reports of child abuse and neglect to assist in future risk and safety assessments of children and families.
But admitting problems after the fact is no longer good enough. Children are dying and being maimed for life because of – take your pick – budgetary underfunding, politicized administration, inept training and overwhelmed case workers.
Money doesn’t appear to be a problem. In 2008, DSS officials returned $24 million in unspent funds.
Changes need to be made and made quickly. More than one-third of case workers still handle more than the 18-case limit and nearly 75 percent oversee in excess of the 15-case standard.
If it takes more money to hire more workers, do it. The time to ponder is over. Action is essential before the next headline that reports a dead child who had been abused.
Sorry doesn’t cut it anymore.
I read that. It's very sad/ I have worked there and have had a child "in the system," and this is a rogue agency, worse than Probation; there it's about jobs and patronage. DCF is destroying the lives of children before your eyes. God bless you for speaking out and I hope others do as well. Susan, Brookline
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