Children’s advocates push state legislation

A child advocacy group is urging state legislators to pass a bill that would allow the public to review reports on child deaths that were caused by physical abuse.

Senate Bill 1026 would require the state Department of Public Welfare to release the reports, which would include the identity of the victim, circumstances surrounding the death and the evaluation of actions taken by any child welfare agency that was involved with the victim’s family. That information currently is open only to law enforcement and certain other protective service agencies.

Cathleen Palm, co-founder of the child advocacy group The Protect Our Children Committee, said an amendment enacted last year to the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act promises to open the process to more public scrutiny. But the Pennsylvania law goes even further, she said.

The federal amendment requires states to release limited information, including the date and circumstances of a child’s death, but allows authorities to keep the child’s identity secret. The proposed Pennsylvania law would require the complete report be released except in cases in which it would jeopardize a criminal investigation.

The release of information in suspected child abuse deaths recently became an issue locally after it was revealed DPW downgraded the license of the Luzerne County Children and Youth Services agency due its handling of a case involving a Hazleton area child who died.

That child was among four children whose deaths in 2006 and 2007 are being investigated by DPW as potential child abuse cases. Citing confidentiality laws, county and state officials have refused to identify the children or provide information about their deaths.

Palm said the Pennsylvania bill is a significant step forward in ensuring the actions of child protective service agencies are more fully scrutinized.

“You can’t protect children absolutely, but if a child was already known to the system … there is an elevated level of accountability,” Palm said. “That’s part of why we want more than a snippet of the report. We want greater detail – what services were delivered, were there any issues related to compliance with that child?”

Palm said she believes opening child death reports to the public will help instill more trust in the child welfare system. The bill is awaiting action in the Senate. Her group was among 33 child advocacy groups that recently wrote to Senate leaders, urging them to act on the legislation.

“The child welfare system deals with the most challenging situations. It’s hard to have confidence in the system, especially when a child dies,” Palm said. “We need to have an honest conversation about what happened. ... It’s not to point fingers and say ‘You should have done this or should have done that.’ It’s about knowing, how do we make sure we did what we could?”

Terrie Morgan-Besecker, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7179

Clear 27°

News

Bill would make most reports on child deaths caused by abuse completely public.

Place Quick Ads