State Secrecy and Child Deaths in the U.S.

The system that keeps track of this information has nothing to do with registered sex offenders, these deaths are caused by persons who are not registered sex offenders!

5-1-2008 National:

Disclosure a key to keep kids safe

When a child is abused or neglected to the point of death or near-death in Massachusetts, bills are filed, press conferences are held, the requisite blue ribbon commission is appointed - in rare cases someone might even lose his job.

But a scathing report released yesterday by two child advocacy organizations exposes the shameful failure of most states - and Massachusetts figures prominently among them - to actually learn from their fatal mistakes. Well-intentioned or not, the effort to protect confidentiality in these cases can lead to a damaging culture of secrecy that threatens real progress.

“Information about these tragic incidents - information that helps drive systemic reform where warranted, and enables the public to hold child welfare systems accountable - is withheld by many jurisdictions,” concludes the report compiled by the Children’s Advocacy Institute and First Star. “This is unacceptable.”

The report’s authors cited the familiar and tragic stories of Haleigh Poutre, Rebecca Riley - and more recently, the Middleboro 7-year-old burned repeatedly with cigarettes - to suggest the Bay State’s child welfare system is crying out for reform. But stronger public disclosure policies are needed to achieve that goal.

In the report Massachusetts scores a pitiful D-minus for its disclosure policies when it comes to fatalities or near-fatalities involving abuse or neglect.

The Bay State does have a policy requiring disclosure of findings in the event of a death (as required by federal law), but as to what information must be released, the report says the policy is “vague and unclear.” And there is no formal policy for near-fatalities.

We respect the urgent need to protect the confidentiality of vulnerable children, especially in this age of permanent Google records. And this report makes less of a statement about the quality of service that DSS delivers to vulnerable children than it does the need for transparency.

But a responsible balance is needed and should be achieved. And as the report suggests, a shroud of secrecy does nothing to serve other children who might be at risk.

Such data should be available, the report suggests, in a “predictable, consistent and enforceable manner.” As the D-minus indicates, Massachusetts has nowhere to go but up.

Opinion: Boston Herald Editorial Staff


The Full Report: State Secrecy and Child Deaths in the U.S.

Executive Summary:
This groundbreaking report jointly published by the Children’s Advocacy Institute (CAI) and First Star evaluates each state’s public disclosure practices about cases of child abuse or neglect that resulted in fatalities and near fatalities. Approximately 1,500 children die every year as a result of abuse or neglect in the United States.

Countless more children suffer near death injuries caused by abuse or neglect. States are required to allow for public disclosure of the findings or information regarding those fatalities and near fatalities pursuant to the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). As this report reveals, however, while most states are generally in compliance with the limited letter of the federal statute, few state policies adequately further the legislative intent in these gravest cases.

Information about these tragic incidents — information that helps drive systemic reform where warranted, and enables the public to hold child welfare systems accountable — is withheld by many jurisdictions. This is unacceptable. CAPTA explicitly requires states to adopt “provisions which allow for public disclosure of the findings or information about the case of child abuse or neglect which has resulted in a child fatality or near fatality.” In providing clarification as to proper state execution of this provision, the Child Welfare Policy Manual declares that a state “does not have discretion in whether to allow the public access to the child fatality or near fatality information; rather, the public has the discretion as to whether to access the information.” A narrow reading of CAPTA—a reading favored by those public officials who might be embarrassed by public disclosure—frustrates the statute’s purposes and ignores the guidance provided by the Manual. CAI and First Star believe that in the best interests of children, states must follow a broad interpretation of CAPTA’s requirements regarding public disclosure.

The report compares the child death and near death disclosure laws and policies of all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia and ranks them from “A” for the best, most transparent policies to “F” for the most secretive or non-existent ones. The Report analyzes states based on the following criteria:

• Does the state have a public disclosure policy as mandated by CAPTA?

• Is the state’s policy codified in statute, or is it contained in regulation or written (or oral) policy?

• What is the ease of access to the information (does the policy use mandatory or permissive language, and is the release of information contingent on conditions precedent)?

• What is the scope of information authorized for release, and are there exceptions that decrease the type of information that will be released?

• Does the state allow public access to Dependency Court (abuse/neglect) proceedings? Regrettably, few states fared well under this examination:

• Only two states earned an “A”
• An alarming 28 states deserved a “C+” or lower, and
• A staggering 10 states flunked.

This report aims to promote public awareness and discourse on the issue of public disclosure following child abuse and neglect deaths and near deaths, and to catalyze statewide and national legislative reform in order to better protect children and save lives. It also seeks to advocate for making information about child abuse and neglect deaths available to the public in a predictable, consistent, and enforceable manner, and ultimately to affect policy changes in the child welfare system that will better protect children, and to remove restrictions that inappropriately limit access to the information made public by CAPTA.

Many states fail to properly re-shift the balance between confidentiality and public disclosure required by CAPTA when a child dies or almost dies from maltreatment. Further, the exceptions, limitations, and conditions that many states impose on disclosure negate or significantly reduce the impact of the information provided.

The current undue emphasis on confidentiality only masks problems inherent in child protection systems. Public exposure is a necessary step toward fixing these problems. Each year, millions of taxpayer dollars go to support child protective services investigations. Accordingly, the public has a right to know if the laws for the protection of children are being followed and its tax dollars well-spent. Child abuse deaths and near deaths reflect the system’s worst failures. Until state laws require the release of accurate and unfiltered information, we cannot identify the fault lines, and cannot begin to fix them.

When abuse or neglect lead to a child’s death or near death, the state’s interest in confidentiality is secondary to the interests of the children who would be better protected and served by maximum transparency. An open system is a better system, draws attention to failures, empowers advocates, and ultimately better protects children. Through this report, First Star and CAI aim to hold child protection systems accountable through public scrutiny and to challenge each state to adopt the best practices available. ...remainder of report...