On June 17, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held a hearing to examine a highly publicized child abuse case in Baltimore, Maryland. While most of the testimony focused on this particular case, witnesses provided their suggestions on how Congress and states can improve the child welfare system in general. This hearing is the fifth in a series of hearings to examine the child welfare system. Previous hearings were held in May 2004, January 2004, and November 2003 (see The Source, 5/14/04, 1/30/04, 11/21/03, and 11/7/03).
In his opening remarks, Chair Wally Herger (R-CA) stated, “The case we will examine today highlights where life and death decisions are made for these children in homes, offices, courts, and hospitals across the country. With one more phone call, one more question, or one more background check, two little girls in Baltimore might still be alive. We owe it to them and the other children who die each year to understand what went wrong, so we can work with local officials to prevent such tragedies from happening again.”
Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-MD) said that the case “illustrates a system that is clearly failing.” Pointing out that “the parent of a child in foster care is the state,” he asked the witnesses to give specific recommendations on how the state can better protect children in the child welfare system. “It is past time for action,” he concluded.
Last month, a 17-year-old foster care runaway was charged with murder after her twin infant daughters suffered fractured skulls. Officials at the hearing were limited in what could be discussed about the criminal case, but summarized public reports. Testifying on behalf of the Baltimore City Department of Social Services (DSS), Floyd Blair explained that there was a previous report of child abuse against the mother, and an older child had been removed from her care in October 2003. He also said that when the mother was in labor with the twins at Johns Hopkins Hospital, a social worker called DSS staff “and asked if [the mother] had an ‘active’ or ‘open’ child abuse case. After checking the appropriate data screen, the clerk answered ‘no,’ which was an accurate answer…Once a child is removed from the parent’s care and placed in foster care, the case is closed and not active.”
Baltimore City Commissioner of Health Peter Beilenson offered a number of “global” recommendations for the subcommittee: 1) Encourage the recruitment of trained social workers; 2) Provide child protection services with adequate information technology; 3) Emphasize “child protection” over “family preservation;” 4) Release case files after a child fatality; and 5) Design measures to protect the future children of a parent who has been convicted of child abuse.
Diane DePanfilis, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work, detailed a flaw in the federal child welfare system: “For some families, the child protection system is like a revolving door. My research, as well as research by others, has found that families may be reported for child maltreatment as many as 25 times in five years. The system continues to screen out, investigate, and/or serve the same families over and over again as we often fail to stop a pattern that sometimes continues for generations. Despite the fact that research also indicates that we have a chance to alter this picture if families can be helped the first time someone recognizes a problem, our systems too often get involved too late. We are serving only the tip of the iceberg and waiting too long to offer help that has any chance of success.” Dr. DePanfilis said that in order “to prevent future fatalities due to child abuse and neglect, we need to drastically reform the way our communities are structured to respond to families who many be at risk for child abuse and neglect,” adding, “Governments ought to facilitate the development of community environments that by their nature provide family support and that ensure watchfulness for children. Help and, if necessary, monitoring and control ought to be built into primary community settings in a manner that minimizes intrusions on privacy and that improves the everyday quality of life for children and families, whatever their vulnerability and needs.”
