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Thursday, June 27, 2002
Lawmakers vow vigilance on DHS
Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||
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AUGUSTA — Sally Ann Schofield's manslaughter conviction in the death of 5-year-old Logan Marr will not prompt the Legislature to take another crack at changing Maine's child-welfare laws, because many reforms have been ordered since Logan died in Schofield's Chelsea home early last year. But the guilty verdict, which came Tuesday in Lincoln County Superior Court, has reminded lawmakers that the Legislature will have to keep a close eye on the Department of Human Services next year, to make sure state bureaucrats fully implement recent changes in the system that is supposed to protect children. Lawmakers who have been working to improve the child-welfare system since Logan died in January 2001 say Schofield's trial did not reveal anything new about DHS' shortcomings or about the state's role in Logan's death. But they say the trial underscored the fact that the Legislature must do a better job of overseeing that system, to assure that it works the way the Legislature wants it to work. That's the consensus among legislators in both parties who have closely followed the child-protection issue since Schofield, a former DHS caseworker who was Logan's foster mother, bound and gagged the child in a high chair with 42 feet of duct tape and left her alone in the basement, where she suffocated. Some legislators said Wednesday that they will fight to protect new child-welfare jobs, including that of a state ombudsman, from cuts Gov. Angus King is making to balance the state budget. But when it comes to updating state policies, lawmakers said the Legislature should give recent changes a chance to work before enacting more laws. "We've already looked at the system and we've already made some changes in the system," said Rep. Charles LaVerdiere, D-Wilton, who co-chairs the Legislature's Judiciary Committee. "Now we have to put them into effect and make sure they work." "We've been down that road," Sen. Karl Turner, R-Cumberland, said of enacting laws to better protect children. Logan's death focused attention on problems in the state's child-welfare system and triggered a series of reforms. Some were implemented by DHS on its own last year, while others were ordered by the Legislature after two state committees investigated the system and recommended changes. The state acknowledged after Logan's death that her caseworker did not check on her as often as state rules required while the girl was living in Schofield's home. E-mail messages between the caseworker and Schofield revealed that they had an overly friendly relationship, not the arms-length relationship that should exist between a foster parent and a state worker who is monitoring the care of a foster child. In addition, the state dragged its feet after Logan complained, only weeks before her death, that she had been physically abused in Schofield's home. DHS took steps last year to prevent a recurrence of those types of problems, but two studies launched by the Legislature revealed other complaints about the child-welfare system. Those investigations produced a series of recommendations, many of which the Legislature enacted this year. The new laws order DHS to give biological parents information about their rights in child-protective proceedings. They also expand access to such hearings so more people can attend them. And they require that DHS tape-record scheduled interviews with parents, children and others during investigations by state caseworkers. The Legislature put up $4 million this year to upgrade child-welfare services, in part by hiring another 28 caseworkers and putting more money into home visits, family support and treatment for drug and alcohol abuse. New laws require the state to work harder to keep troubled families together, place abused children with relatives rather than strangers whenever possible, and do a better job of supervising caseworkers. Against that backdrop, LaVerdiere and other lawmakers said the task at hand is to make sure DHS does what the Legislature has told it to do. They also said lawmakers may have to put the brakes on spending cuts ordered by King, including his decision not to spend most of the $120,000 that the Legislature set aside to hire a child-welfare ombudsman. "The upper echelon" at DHS understands and accepts the Legislature's new emphasis on reuniting foster children with their parents or placing them with relatives, but that policy "hasn't really trickled down to the supervisors and the caseworkers in the field," said Rep. Edward Dugay, D-Cherryfield. The Legislature must "remain extremely vigilant" to ensure that everyone at DHS plays by the new rules, said Rep. Julie Ann O'Brien, R-Augusta. Staff Writer Paul Carrier can be contacted at 622-7511 or at:
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