The deaths of two children earlier this year prompted a legislative inquiry into the Vermont Department for Children and Families. And lawmakers will soon introduce legislation aimed at preventing similar tragedies in the future.
The Legislature’s Committee on Child Protection has had a busy year. Since the close of the 2014 legislative session, this nine-member panel has convened 12 hearings, interviewed scores of witnesses and conducted in-depth case studies of some of the more severe child welfare incidents in recent years.
But what began as a dive into the inner workings of the Department of Children and Families, soon turned into a far broader examination of government and nonprofit agencies. And South Burlington Rep. Ann Pugh says new legislation will look to mend holes in the social safety net for abused children.
"What we learned from day one is that this is not a DCF problem, this is a community problem." - South Burlington Rep. Ann Pugh
“What we learned from day one is that this is not a DCF problem, this is a community problem,” Pugh says. “And we can’t just look first of all to state government to solve it, and we can’t just look to one agency, or one group of employees to solve it.”
Pugh, the Democratic chairwoman of the House Committee on Human Services, says the legislation will likely call for more permanent legislative oversight, even after the ad hoc Committee on Child Protection disbands.
Bennington Sen. Dick Sears served as chairman of the special committee. Sears says the new bill will change in some very fundamental ways how social workers handle these difficult child endangerment cases.
“Well I think that one of the biggest changes will be a clear statement that the best interest of the child trumps any effort at reunification, particularly as it pertains to those families with significant substance abuse issues,” Sears says.
The committee began its work shortly after the death of 15-month-old Peighton Geraw, a Winooski child who had formerly been under the watch of DCF. That case followed one from February, when 2-year-Dezirae Sheldon of Poultney was killed, allegedly by her step-father. Sheldon had also been under DCF supervision, and her father has since sued the state, alleging DCF failed in its duty to protect the girl.
"Well I think that one of the biggest changes will be a clear statement that the best interest of the child trumps any effort at reunification, particularly as it pertains to those families with significant substance abuse issues." - Sen. Dick Sears
Pugh says an intensive review of those cases and others suggests that poor communication between public and nonprofit agencies often thwarts the timely discovery of potentially dangerous situations.
“Because what we heard is that even within state government, people in family services didn’t necessarily have regular contact or couldn’t get information from people in corrections or people in economic services,” Pugh says.
The Shumlin administration has since added additional social workers to the department that investigates allegations of child abuse. But Dick Sears, who also serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says reduced caseloads aren’t necessarily a sign that DCF is adequately staffed.
“I mean, numbers don’t tell me anything,” Sears says. “You can have 25 pretty easy cases and you can have five really difficult cases. And I don’t know which worker is going to be more overworked – probably the one with five difficult cases.”
The legislation will call for a child welfare "ombudsperson" – someone outside state government who can help family members or concerned citizens navigate DCF bureaucracy, and direct evidence or wrongdoing to the right people.
Sears says the committee’s work also showed that social workers at DCF were sometimes required to investigate situations better handled by law enforcement personnel.
"We're going to look at making sure that where there is any kind of serious injury, that those cases are investigated by the local special investigative unit, and not left up to the DCF investigators." - Sen. Dick Sears
“We’re going to look at making sure that where there is any kind of serious injury, that those cases are investigated by the local special investigative unit, and not left up to the DCF investigators," he says.
Pugh says the bill will also look to allow social workers to remove children from a home without a court order, if they believe a child is in imminent danger of being hurt.
Sears and Pugh say that hearings on the proposed legislation will begin immediately after lawmakers return to the Statehouse in early January.
