The system protecting our children is broken
http://www.insidenova.com/opinion/editorial-the-system-protecting-our-children-is-broken/article_d215049a-c637-11e3-9e85-0019bb2963f4.html
The people tasked with protecting our children are failing miserably.
They failed Lexie Glover back in 2009, when her adoptive mom dumped her in a freezing stream near the McCoart building to die after years of abuse and neglect.
They failed a class of toddlers at Minnieland at the Glen, who authorities say suffered six months of abuse before someone finally came forward last fall.
And they failed 8-year-old Ralisha Rudd, who disappeared from a Washington homeless shelter and was gone for weeks before anyone thought to look for her.
Our system of social workers, teachers and child-care workers is supposed to identify children in danger, and move to protect them before the unthinkable happens.
Clearly the system is broken.
In January 2009, after the body of 13-year-old disabled girl Lexie Glover was found in a creek in mid-Prince William County, it came to light that teachers, social workers and even the police had received many reports of abuse and neglect regarding the girl. Yet no one did anything to save her.
Her adoptive mother, Alfreedia Glover, is now serving a 26-year prison sentence for killing Lexie, and several police officers and social workers were disciplined for mishandling the case.
In the disturbing disappearance of Ralisha Rudd, her mother didn’t report her missing, school officials didn’t start asking why she wasn’t at school until she’d been gone for weeks, and social services had investigated the family many times, but had never taken the girl away, according to the Washington Post.
Rudd was last seen with a maintenance man at the homeless shelter where she stayed. That man’s wife was found shot dead in a hotel in Maryland last month. And last week, he was found dead in Washington. Ralisha remains missing, and police hold little hope she’ll be found alive.
In the Minnieland case, the Virginia Department of Social Services investigation revealed that other staff at Minnieland at the Glen witnessed two teachers hitting, biting and otherwise mistreating a class of toddlers for almost six months. No one did anything to stop it, even though state law mandates that child-care workers report any suspected abuse or neglect. Finally, another teacher took her concerns to Minnieland’s corporate office and the state began an investigation.
But it appears state social services failed here, too. They published a lengthy report about the violations they found – including at least two incidents that left toddlers injured – but they never reported their findings to police, though they are required to by state law. Police began investigating the allegations after a story was published in Prince William Today.
The sad case of another Prince William County child who fell through the cracks prompted the state law requiring social workers to share with police findings of their investigations. In 1993, 2-year-old Donnell Robinson was beaten to death by his mother’s boyfriend in Woodbridge. The family had been investigated by social services for suspected child abuse, but the toddler wasn’t removed from the home. After his death, police said they were unaware of the abuse allegations and would have investigated if social services had disclosed what they knew. Social workers cited confidentiality rules for withholding the information.
And that’s a common thread in the cases of Donnell, Lexie, Ralisha and the toddlers at Minnieland. No one is sharing what they know, and the agencies that are supposed to protect children are protecting themselves from scrutiny instead.
Case in point: We asked the state Department of Social Services why its office didn’t notify law enforcement of what they found at Minnieland. The answer? In an email, a spokeswoman said she couldn’t answer due to confidentiality rules.