CT - Michael Brown, 7 mos, dies of head injuries, Mansfield, 19 May 2008

lorelei

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2007
Messages
303
Reaction score
23
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Infant-Death.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- An employee of the state Department of Children and Families has been charged in the death of a 7-month-old foster child placed in her care, prompting the agency to seek her dismissal. Suzanne Listro received a foster care provider's license earlier this year, despite having been investigated twice on allegations she abused a 3-year-old child she adopted, DCF Commissioner Susan Hamilton said. Those accusations were not substantiated.


THis is awful. Apparently she was investigated for those abuse complaint involving her 3 yr old by an employee at her own job. And also approved for a foster care license despite those complaints- by people who worked at that Dept. too. They are going to change the procedures now it looks like- so that DCF workers there who apply to be foster parents, etc have to be looked at by an outside agency.
A little too late late for this baby though :behindbar

edit- here's another link, I just remembered you need to log in to see the NYTImes
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jM-X0HtNsp0kyjSkbOpzHAUYQp_wD91VP3UG0
 
Ha, I must be daft, I would have assumed that NO ONE would get certified as a foster parent if there had been any prior abuse allegations, let alone two, whether they were 'substantiated' or not...that whole being on the safe side when dealing with vulnerable populations.

Silly me would have also assumed that anyone working at a child care agency who was twice accused of child abuse might get fired....

When did we throw common sense out the window? Was it the 80's? the 90's?
 
I just read the article a little more carefully- apparently the worker who handled the 2 investigations is being fired now. The head of the agency called their investigations "substandard and unacceptable."
Arghhhhhhhhhh.

Does anyone know-is that common practice for employees of DCF/child welfare departments to investigate their own coworkers? Now that I think about it I wonder if in most places when a DCF worker has a complaint against them if they don't just let their coworkers check those complaints out?
It seems like the sort of thing where you would really want a 3rd party to carry out the investigation.
 
In Michigan, they have a worker from a different county do any investigations into DHS workers. Also, if you want to become a foster parent, you have to be licensed through a private agency or else it's a conflict of interest.
 
Lyn, I think that's the way all states should do it.
 
Does anyone know-is that common practice for employees of DCF/child welfare departments to investigate their own coworkers?

At least they had a co-worker do it, and they didn't put her in charge of her own investigation... :rolleyes:
 
From March 2010:

http://articles.courant.com/2010-03...f-commissioner-susan-hamilton-michael-s-death

A Mansfield woman accused of killing a 7-month-old foster child in her care was acquitted Monday of charges of first-degree manslaughter and risk of injury to a minor...

After hearing a host of expert witnesses testify during three weeks of trial, Judge William H. Bright Jr. said that questions remained and he could not say who or what was responsible for Michael's death. "I cannot say beyond a reasonable doubt Ms. Listro inflicted these injuries on Michael Brown," Bright said.

"I'm not saying this was an accident," the judge added. "I don't know."
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
175
Guests online
1,941
Total visitors
2,116

Forum statistics

Threads
589,950
Messages
17,928,076
Members
228,013
Latest member
RayaCo
Back
Top