By Senator Bill Diamond
In the 20 years I’ve been working on child welfare issues, never have I heard from so many people with their own stories of how the system let them down as I have these past few months. After a summer marked by tragedy, we continue to see stories in the news about children dying with sad regularity – most recently, 14-month-old Karson Malloy of Oakland died after suffering a medical emergency at home. Inside the home, police found evidence indicating drug trafficking, including a shocking 5.85 pounds of deadly fentanyl.
The cause of Karson’s death is still being
investigated, and no one has been charged in connection with his death at this
time. Nor do we know what involvement Maine’s child welfare system had with
this family leading up to Karson’s death, if any. What we do know is that we’re
still waiting for change in Maine’s child welfare system to keep our children
safe.
In October, Casey Family Programs released
their assessment of Maine’s child welfare system, as the Department of Health
and Human Services (DHHS) had contracted them to do. In response, DHHS laid out plans for changes including
reviews of staffing plans and better coordination with hospitals and law
enforcement.
While I’m always hopeful that we’re getting
closer to the systemic change we need, I expect that the review currently being
conducted by the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability
(OPEGA) will give a more thorough account of the problems. OPEGA will deliver
their full report in September 2022, with interim reports to the Legislature
due in January and March of 2022. In the meantime, the Legislature is preparing
to go back into session in January, and I’ve sponsored several bills to make
more immediate changes.
I’ve written in The Windham Eagle several times
about the deaths of Logan Marr, Kendall Chick and Marissa Kennedy, three little
girls who were let down by the system in the most devastating way. Many of the
details of their abuse and the systemic failures that led to their deaths were
unknown until those ultimately responsible for their deaths went to trial –
Sally Schofield in Logan’s case, Shawna Gatto in Kendall’s case, and Julio and
Sharon Carrillo in Marissa’s case.
I attended the trials of Shawna Gatto and the
Carrillos, and the details that came to light in the courtroom were
heartbreaking. Particularly wrenching is the timeline of Marissa Kennedy’s final months and the many
missed opportunities for lifesaving interventions, including the day before she
died, when Marissa lost consciousness in front of a child welfare worker. The
caseworker believed the Carrillos when they said Marissa was just tired; in
fact, Marissa’s body was shutting down due to severe, ongoing abuse.
Making information like this timeline public is
a critical step in identifying where things went wrong so that we can make
changes and prevent future tragedies. It is in these trials that key
information is discovered and made public.
But even in the best of times, cases can take
years to go to trial. Several parents have been charged with manslaughter or
murder over the deaths of their children this year, and their trials are likely
to provide us with important information about where the system failed.
One of my bills will help make sure we get this
information as quickly as possible so that we can save lives. The bill directs
the Maine Attorney General to prioritize the criminal investigation and
prosecution of murder cases in which the victim is a child, and to work with
the courts to prioritize these cases when scheduling trials.
This way, the accused get the fair and speedy
trail they’re entitled to, and key information that may save other lives is
available as soon as possible. I look forward to keeping you updated on this
bill, and on my other bills that aim to improve our child welfare system, in
the coming months.
If you believe a child is in immediate danger,
please call 911. To report cases of suspected child abuse or neglect, call
Maine’s Child Protection Intake line at 1-800-452-1999. If you have concerns about how
a child protection case is being handled, contact the Maine Child
Welfare Ombudsman at 207- 213-4773.
As always, I’m here to talk through your
questions and concerns and to help you address any challenges you may be
facing. You can email me any time at diamondhollyd@aol.com or call my
office at 207- 287-1515. <
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