An oversight committee of the Vermont Legislature held a hearing this week on issues relating to the Department of Children and Families, which is under the microscope following child deaths last year and the murder of a social worker in August.
Act 60 enacted earlier this year included a provision establishing the Joint Legislative Child Protection Oversight Committee. It is tasked with evaluating whether departments and agencies are effectively protecting children from abuse and neglect and determining if there are deficiencies in the system
The joint committee heard testimony Tuesday in Montpelier in five areas including special investigation units, the court process, worker safety, and opoid addiction. Committee Chair Representative Ann Pugh is a Democrat. “Part of the role of the legislature is to monitor and see if what we put into place is working or do we need to make changes. And so part of this is getting feedback on what does it really mean in practice in the courts, for the special investigation units, all of these. The agenda very clearly reflected the fact that protecting children is a community responsibility and there are many players involved.”
Committee member GOP Senator Peg Flory say they are clarifying Act 60, or S.9’s, intent. “The first thing we were looking for is is S.9 as written working or are there some tweaks we need to do? Quite often when you write a law as complicated as S.9 was you find out the implementation is more difficult that you expected or what we thought was clear isn’t clear to those that are having to work under it. So that’s one of the initial goals is to see if in fact S.9 needs to be tweaked in the next session.”
Flory adds that they are seeking data from a number of areas. “We’re trying to look at caseloads; how the early retirement package might have affected DCF; and then with the shootings this past summer obviously security concerns for not only the DCF workers but folks involved in the whole process from those reporting to the foster parents to the DCF workers. We wanted to take a look at that too while keeping in mind that the whole focus of child protection is to protect the child.”
Department for Children and Families Deputy Commissioner Cindy Walcott notes that the child protection system is larger than the department itself. “It involves the court system. It involves treatment agencies, like for instance substance abuse treatment agencies, family support agencies, that sort of thing. And the difference in having this committee is that they are meeting on a regular basis. Yesterday they spent the whole day really hearing from people about the strengths and shortcomings of the system. And I feel that they will be much better situated when the legislative session starts in January to make thoughtful decisions about where to go from here.”
It’s expected that Act 60 could be revised as a result of the oversight committee’s hearings. Again, Anne Pugh. “Our goal is to see whether there needs to be what I would call a housekeeping bill. Are there some cleanup or changes as often happens when you pass a large piece of legislation? Do we need to tweak any pieces to make it better? And have new issues surfaced that need legislative attention?”
The Joint Legislative Child Protection Oversight Committee will meet two more times before the Legislative session begins in January. The Department for Children and Families has been getting a closer look since the death of social worker Lara Sobel in August. Police say she was murdered by Jody Herring in the parking lot of the DCF offices in Barre. Herring, who is also accused of killing three of her family members, has pleaded not guilty in all four deaths.
