LEGISLATIVE BUDGETARY HEARING are usually dry discussions about line items and government programs. On Tuesday, however, lawmakers were strongly reminded of the life and death decisions involved in determining the use of state dollars and the functioning of individual agencies.
The Department of Children and Families Commissioner Linda Spears was practically speaking to the legislature’s Ways and Means Committees less than a week later a damning report explained her agency’s shortcomings that allegedly led to the death of Fall River teenager David Almond As a result, off Abuse and neglect by his father and his father’s girlfriend even though the family is under the supervision of the DCF.
Spears used her appearance to discuss not only her agency’s budget request, but also how the agency was implementing reforms. She opened her testimony by referring to Almond’s death. “I want to assure you every step of the way that we take this very seriously in the department and that we are committed and share your commitment and belief that every child deserves to live in a home that is safe and free from harm is, “said Spears.
Spears repeated how she did it said beforehandthat DCF replaced Fall River’s office administration team in February. Over the past six weeks, she said, “You are doing an enormous amount of work stabilizing and moving the office forward.”
Among other things, initiated reforms because of the case, DCF is hiring a Disability Services Director. It is Likewise Developing protocols to ensure complex cases are handled through clinical review team meetings where a team of social workers can consider specific facts that affect a case, such as: B. Mental health or substance use problems. DCF initiates a review process for all cases where a child is reunited with their family. with the addition of a new tool to assess children’s safety risks prior to reunification. And the agency is Find ways to ensure that family service providers can hear their voices in DCF decisions. In Almond’s case, vendors who worked with him expressed concern that DCF was too quickly returning Almond to his father’s custody.
“For me, it’s about duplicating some of the things we’ve already done and stepping up quality assurance activities to make sure we regularly investigate more cases at random,” Spears said.
Spears also discussed the dynamics of the pandemic that resulted in Almond never being seen in person by a social worker through only virtual visits from his return to his father’s house in March 2020 until his death in October. According to Spears, DCF operated under the guidance of the federal government and one of the agency’s assigned health department epidemiologists throughout the pandemic.
Immediate responses to allegations of abuse and neglect were always carried out personally. Non-urgent virtual visits became a mix of face-to-face and virtual visits in late summer once personal protective equipment became widely available. Home visits continued evenly divided since then with personal visits one month and virtual visits the next. Spears says social workers and managers are given a weekly report every week detailing which children need to be seen and asked to use a tool that can assess a child’s risk to determine if a visit is virtual may or may not be done.
The agency is moving away from virtual home visits, according to Spears, as the COVID vaccine is more prevalent and transmission rates are lower than in fall and winter. Going forward, she said video conferencing could be used to complement, but not replace, visits. “We never expected a 50:50 schedule to be a permanent stance for the department,” Spears said.
Rep. Natalie Blais, a Democrat from Sunderland, said while Almond’s death was related to the pandemic, that cannot be used as an excuse for the tragedy. “We want to be careful that the pandemic is not used as a reason,” She said.
Meet the author
reporter, Commonwealth
over Shira Schoenberg
Shira Schoenberg is a reporter for CommonWealth magazine. Shira previously worked at Springfield Republican / MassLive.com for more than seven years, covering state politics and elections, topics such as the start of the legal marijuana industry, problems with the state care system, and the elections for US Senator Elizabeth Warren and Governor Charlie Baker. Shira won the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Legal Journalism in 2018 and has received multiple stories from the New England Newspaper and Press Association. Shira covered the 2012 New Hampshire presidential primaries for the Boston Globe. She previously worked for the Concord (NH) Monitor, where she wrote on the state government, City Hall, and Barack Obama’s 2008 New Hampshire Primary Campaign. Shira holds a Masters degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
over Shira Schoenberg
Shira Schoenberg is a reporter for CommonWealth magazine. Shira previously worked at Springfield Republican / MassLive.com for more than seven years, covering state politics and elections, topics such as the start of the legal marijuana industry, problems with the state care system, and the elections for US Senator Elizabeth Warren and Governor Charlie Baker. Shira won the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Legal Journalism in 2018 and has received multiple stories from the New England Newspaper and Press Association. Shira covered the 2012 New Hampshire presidential primaries for the Boston Globe. She previously worked for the Concord (NH) Monitor, where she wrote on the state government, City Hall, and Barack Obama’s 2008 New Hampshire Primary Campaign. Shira holds a Masters degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Spears agreed. She said the lack of a safety net and lack of visibility in the community made the case difficult. But Spears said, “At the root of it is bad decision-making.”
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