The tragic story of Bella Bond, the three-year-old girl whose body washed up on Deer Island in June 2015, triggered candlelight vigils and public outrage. Nearly two years after her death, children who, like Bella, rely upon the state for protection, are still dying.
Unlike Bella, however, they aren’t big news. Without names and faces, they are numbers in a report — but they are numbers we should not ignore.
According to the fiscal 2016 report by the Office of the Child Advocate, a total of 64 children who were receiving state services died between July 2015 and June 2016. Thirty-five of the 64 fatalities were children under the care or custody of the state Department of Children and Families. According to the report, two children receiving DCF services died as a result of suspected physical abuse and a dozen were what the OCA identifies as “substance exposed newborns.’’ Others died from a range of causes, including “life limiting’’ medical conditions, unsafe sleep arrangements, community violence, and suicide.
In fiscal 2015, the OCA reported a total of 40 child fatalities. Maria Z. Mossaides, who was appointed child advocate in October 2015, attributes the higher number of fatalities cited in 2016 to a different reporting method.
In the fiscal 2016 report, Mossaides writes that the increase in the number of children with complex behavioral health needs and children affected by their parents’ substance use disorders place “a strain on the capacity of our service system.’’ During the fiscal 2016 reporting period, the OCA responded to 477 complaint-line inquiries, a 290 percent increase over the prior fiscal year. The office reviewed 114 critical incidents and 328 reports of abuse or neglect of children in out-of-home settings, such as school, child care, foster care, and residential treatment programs. According to the OCA, DCF currently has 9,225 children in foster homes and another 40,447 in their caseload.
When Governor Charlie Baker took office in January 2015, the Department of Children and Families was broken and reeling, following Bella’s death as well as other highly publicized deaths involving children in its care. The governor pledged to fix it and has followed up with money and management reforms. Baker’s proposed DCF budget for fiscal year 2018 is $985.6 million — up from the $827 million allocated in fiscal 2015. The current workload is 19.3 cases per social worker, down from the 22.5 cases per social worker ratio of last May. DCF has added 280 social workers and 96 percent are licensed.
Progress has been made. But as the OCA report indicates, it’s too soon to say the job is done.
It shouldn’t take a dead little girl wrapped in a zebra blanket and thrown into a trash bag to make the rest of us pay attention to children whose lives depend upon the state’s vigilance.
