The Department for Children and Families did the right thing in the case of an infant known to the department who was admitted to the hospital on Monday morning with injuries sustained from allegedly being shaken, the commissioner said.
“I believe we did make our best efforts to address this situation,” DCF Commissioner Ken Schatz said by phone on Wednesday.
Schatz’s comments came one day after Desiree George, 17, was arraigned in Chittenden County Superior Court on charges of domestic assault and cruelty to a child under the age of 10. Her 3-week-old son was in critical condition in the pediatric intensive care unit at the University of Vermont Medical Center.
According to Schatz, DCF had been involved in the case before George’s arrest last week. The department worked with George to make a safety plan, and had offered support for her in caring for the baby. At some point, the infant was living in a home approved by the Lund Family Center, a family support agency in Burlington.
According to an affidavit from the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations (CUSI), DCF investigator Meghan Swan was concerned by some of George’s statements such as, “Sometimes I hate him but I don’t want to hurt him.” George reportedly yelled in the child’s face.
“DCF did what it could to address this serious matter,” Schatz said. He added, “We don’t control the behavior of individuals.”
Thursday, Hal Cohen, secretary of the Agency of Human Services, said that he was impressed with the work that DCF did in George’s case.
“When I looked at the documents that I’m allowed to look at, I felt really proud about what the social worker for DCF did,” Cohen said.
Social workers have the authority to call on law enforcement to remove a child from the home if they perceive an imminent risk of harm. The emergency removal would trigger court proceedings, with a judge ultimately deciding on custody matters.
The commissioner said that DCF did not see the infant as being in a situation that posed imminent harm. Schatz said that “between the safety plan and placement of child at the Lund-approved home,” the department did not see a need to intervene before the case went to court.
When DCF initiates family court proceedings, a temporary care hearing is held almost immediately. Through the case a judge evaluates if the family needs additional supervision, or if the child should be removed from a parent’s custody.
On Friday, Schatz said that he does not believe DCF needs to respond more quickly to such situations.
“I think the law already provides appropriate means for intervention,” Schatz said.
“I don’t believe we need more authority,” Schatz said. “We have appropriate authority now to determine whether the child is in imminent risk of harm.”
Child protective services under scrutiny in Montpelier
The George case comes as DCF is under intense scrutiny by lawmakers in Montpelier.
A legislative committee undertook an investigation into the state’s child protection system last year after the deaths of two young children whose families were in contact with DCF.
S.9, a 43-page bill introduced at the beginning of this legislative session, set out to clarify and fix issues in many areas of the system.
The Senate Judiciary Committee last week removed a controversial section of S.9 that would have empowered social workers, if they perceive an imminent risk of harm, to remove children from a home themselves, rather than calling on law enforcement officers, as is the procedure now.
DCF opposed that provision. Officials were concerned that the measure would put social workers at risk of harm.
The bill addresses the powers of special investigative units, the state’s adoption process, temporary care orders and confidentiality. It would also establish the new crime of failure to protect a child.
S.9 also outlines child protection procedures when opiates and substance abuse are increasingly a factor.
Last week, Schatz told the House Appropriations Committee that opiates are involved in a large portion of the cases that DCF deals with. Substance abuse was a factor in about a third of the cases of child neglect or abuse reported to the state over the Child Protection Line in fiscal year 2014.
Schatz said on Wednesday that the department does not believe opiates are a factor in George’s case.
The Senate Judiciary and Health and Welfare Committees have taken extensive testimony on S.9 over the past month, and both committees have made edits.
Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, chair of the Judiciary Committee, hopes to move the bill out of committee next week. Sears said the legislation is designed to improve the flow of information about DCF cases in family court proceedings.
Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, said lawmakers try to fix problems in the system without running the risk of overstepping.
“As legislators, we all react as every other human on the street does,” Benning said Thursday. “When you see a tragedy, you want to do something about it.”
“Sometimes you do more than you actually want to,” Benning said.
Correction: The article originally did not mention that a temporary care hearing is held early on in family care proceedings, and did not clarify that court proceedings are held in cases when law enforcement removes a child from the home.
