NH: Girl's death spurs DCYF examination
Ric Werme
recently found guilty of murdering Kassidy. There's a bit of a flap
in NH and ME over this, as several people knew recognized the abuse
but didn't report it to the states' abuse hotline. There's a bigger
flap because one person did and DCYF's response was too slow to
prevent the death. Hmm. The story says DCYF was warned "several
times."
More about the murder and trial can be found at
http://www.unionleader.com/search.html?body=Kassidy
The most recent story looks at DCYF. The reporter talked to Paula beforehand
and included some comments from her.
Excerpts from
http://www.concordmonitor.com/stories/news/local2002/dcyf_2002.shtml :
Girl's death spurs DCYF examination
Trial brings to light concern over agency turnover, staffing
Sunday, January 13, 2002
By STEPHANIE HANES
Monitor staff
Kassidy Bortner died at the hands of a child abuser who state
officials had been warned about several times.
Usually DCYF's actions are confidential. But testimony in the trial of
Bortner's accused murderer made public what activists have said for
years: Whether it is because of resources or management, staff
turnover or limited oversight, something is wrong with DCYF.
Oct. 31, 2000, was the first time the agency learned of Bortner. That
was when Tristan Evans called an abuse hotline to report that a
toddler living with her ex-husband and his girlfriend had suspicious
bruises, especially on her face and neck. The next day, a DCYF
assessment worker got the case, along with a number for Chad Evans and
Amanda Bortner, the mother of 21-month-old Kassidy.
The agency won't say what risk level it assigned to Bortner's
case. But DCYF Director Nancy Rollins said intake workers make that
decision from characteristics such as a child's age, whether bruises
are visible or in unusual spots and whether the suspected abuse is
recent. Caseworkers are supposed to respond to high-risk cases in
person within 24 hours.
In the Bortner timeline, though, there are five empty days. On Nov. 6,
DCYF employee Patricia Hocter left a phone message at Evans's and
Bortner's home. She never went to the house, but left another message
Nov. 9.
This time, Evans called back. He left a voicemail saying he was going
out of town, but that the caseworker should call again five days
later, between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
But the timeline didn't last that long.
The afternoon of Nov. 9, Kassidy Bortner was pronounced dead. At
trial, the state's medical examiner testified it was death by child
abuse - the toddler had suffered repeated pummeling in the months
since her 19-year-old mother moved in with the 30-year-old Evans. She
had been thrown against walls and grabbed by the neck. By the time of
her death, she had fractures in both arms, her left leg and her right
arm.
The New Hampshire agency charged with protecting children, they say,
is simply not working. Understaffed and underfunded, DCYF operates in
near secrecy but has left a public trail of furious family members,
condemning reports and, now, a murdered child.
In early 2000, a legislative committee reported that DCYF rarely
completes its case assessment within the agency's own required 60-day
period. But Rollins, the DCYF director, said her workers do complete
assessments within the time period but may not finish the paperwork.
"When you are short of resources you have to prioritize," she said.
But some question whether scant resources can be blamed for all of DCYF's
shortcomings.
In 1997, the federal court established an oversight panel out of a
class-action lawsuit against DCYF. This past December, the panel
issued its third report on the agency with "heightened concern."
DCYF lacked an overall management plan, it said, had an insufficient
structure to supervise and support workers in the field and couldn't
fill vacancies.
"Adding more social workers alone will produce little if any real
qualitative result for children and families," the report stated.
Paula Werme, an attorney and critic of DCYF, said the agency is so
wrapped up in misguided, even unconstitutional, cases, it misses ones
that are truly dire.
"It's absolutely insane what they do," she said. "You can't believe
some of the cases."
"Once you try to get behind that family door, you're going to have a
very difficult time," said Chief District Court Judge Ed Kelly. "I
think a lot of times they are in an impossible situation."
[ See http://people.ne.mediaone.net/werme/law/cnl_foia.html for more
on Judge Kelly.]
But there is no way to review caseworkers or to analyze whether, as
Werme contests, the agency is misguided in many of its actions. Child
abuse and neglect cases are confidential. Nobody is allowed in
hearings except the accused abuser, the child representative and the
DCYF agent. That means the non-offending parent or the grandparent who
cares for a child cannot sit in the hearing, Gordon said. Neither are
lawmakers who regulate and fund DCYF entitled to agency details.
"We have no idea what goes on in these hearings," said Rep. David
Bickford, a Republican from Strafford who has worked with Gordon on
DCYF bills. "The Legislature and all other parties are not allowed to
attend. So we have a law on the books that affects a lot of people and
we don't have a clue about these procedures."
[ See http://people.ne.mediaone.net/werme/dcyf/secrecy.html for more on
Secrecy and DCYF and Rep. Bickford's attempt to attend an abuse/neglect
hearing.]
But it's just as important to have an informed public, child advocates
say. In New Hampshire, every citizen is obligated by law to report
child abuse - not just teachers, nurses or police officers. But in
Bortner's case, at least six people knew of or suspected the toddler's
abuse well before she died, noted Steve Varnum, public policy director
for New Hampshire Children's Alliance.
[ Before Varnum joined the Children's Alliance he was a reporter for
the Concord Monitor where he did a good job reporting DCYF stories,
both pro and con. ]
--
"Engineers are unreasonable people." -- NH Judge John Korbey
Ric Werme | we...@nospam.mediaone.net
http://people.ne.mediaone.net/werme | ^^^^^^^ delete