Much of the focus on child protection in Vermont over the past 18 months has focused on keeping children safe from acts of physical and sexual abuse, but a new report suggests Vermont needs to do more about neglect.
The report is from Building Bright Futures, a child advocacy group in Vermont.
It says national statistics show that 79 percent of maltreated children in the U.S. are neglected. Physical and sexual abuse combined make up 17 percent of victims nationally.
In Vermont, the report says, the picture is far less clear.
"It was surprising to see how kind of apples-to-oranges the data was and how hard it was to really get a handle on neglect in Vermont," says Traci Sawyers, the Building Bright Futures child health policy expert that put the report together.
Sawyers says that's because the state doesn't categorize neglect the same way other states do, and the legal definition in Vermont is much more narrow than in other states.
Vermont law defines neglect as the failure to provide a child with adequate food, clothing, shelter or health care. But Sawyers says most definitions are broader.
"Research defines neglect as the lack of sufficient attention and protection to meet the needs of a child," she says.
Asked if “lack of attention,” or ignoring a child, should be taken more seriously, Department for Children and Families Commissioner Ken Schatz said it’s not clear cut.
“If they’re not providing food, clothing or shelter, then clearly that would be a case where DCF and the state would intervene,” he said. “But if what you’re talking about is not really doing the best job possible regarding the emotional well-being of the child. That may be a case-by-case determination, but the Legislature has clearly used the phrase ‘a pattern of malicious behavior.’”
The state doesn't categorize neglect the same way other states do, and the legal definition in Vermont is much more narrow than in other states.
Sawyers’ report recommends the state add “grossly negligent” to that definition, because she says sometimes neglect isn’t malicious.
“That’s a judgment call that certainly could be presented to the Legislature,” Schatz said. “We don’t see an obvious set of circumstances where that distinction would make a difference.”
Under Vermont's definition, less than 3 percent of substantiated cases of child maltreatment in 2014 were neglect — way below the national average.
But even when Sawyers got help from the Department for Children and Families to align Vermont's data with the way neglect is counted nationally, the numbers didn't add up.
"They estimated that the neglect is more about 60 to 65 percent, which is closer to national neglect statistics, but if it's 80 percent nationally, there's still a big gap," she said.
And Sawyers doesn't think that gap exists because Vermont children aren't neglected as much. She thinks the way the state tracks cases is missing some children.
Schatz disagrees.
"The vast majority of allegations that would be neglect in other states are not even going into the investigation track. That's concerning." - Traci Sawyers, Building Bright Futures
“I mean, we don't think so," he says. "We do think that we have a really good system of community partners who are very knowledgeable and connected to families in the community."
Sawyers says the state's data make it very hard to know if neglect is being caught in Vermont. For one thing, Vermont's neglect statistics are made up of substantiated cases, meaning there was an investigation. But Sawyers says most of the cases that match the common understanding of neglect are never investigated.
They go on a different track, called Differential Response, which Sawyers says is used for less serious cases.
"The vast majority of allegations that would be neglect in other states are not even going into the investigation track," she said. "That's concerning too."
Schatz disagrees on this point too. He also says it isn't DCF's discretion, but the Legislature's, that dictates how cases are dealt with.
"We do think that we have a really good system of community partners who are very knowledgeable and connected to families in the community." - DCF Commissioner Ken Schatz
"We would not say that," he said, responding to Sawyers' assertion that Differential Response, or the "assessment track," is for less serious cases. "We think the assessment track is actually very important and is a very thoughtful approach. Again, it's in state law that we have to apply certain criteria with respect to whether or not a case goes on the assessment track or the investigation track."
Sawyers' report has 14 recommendations, some of which call for more funding. But others simply call for changes in what counts as neglect in Vermont.
Schatz says he's glad neglect is getting the attention, and he appreciates the report's recommendations.
"We will carefully review them and go forward in terms of assessing those recommendations and moving forward on those we think will improve our child protection system," he said.
Some of those recommendations, though, would require legislative action — and maybe new funding.
