DCFS children's deaths rose in 2009

DCFS children's deaths rose in 2009

No major overhauls planned, but director says department remains committed
By Troy Anderson, Staff Writer
Updated: 02/05/2010 11:30:51 PM PST


The county's child welfare and protection agency saw an increase last year in deaths of children whose cases it had investigated, but its head said Friday that the department doesn't plan any major policy overhauls.
Last year, 17 children died from abuse or neglect after the Department of Children and Family Services had investigated earlier complaints of mistreatment.

The figure, an increase from 2008's total of 14 deaths, includes both open and closed investigations.

Those deaths at the hands of a parent or caregiver include several well-publicized cases, including Dae'von Bailey, Lars Sanchez and Isabel Garcia whose alleged mistreatment had been reported to DCFS before their deaths.

While some media reports said the increase in deaths partly contributed to a policy change that would seek to place more kids in foster care to prevent them from harm at home, DCFS Director Trish Ploehn said Friday that the reports were not accurate.

Ploehn said her department remains committed to returning children to their families whenever it is safe and in the best interest of the children.

"Our highest priority is to ensure that families are supported with adequate resources to care for their own children," Ploehn said in a prepared statement. "We remain committed to the direction we have been taking ... to focus on keeping families together."

Ploehn said the number of deaths fluctuates from year to year and is still below a



high of 20 in 1998 and 1999 when the department oversaw 50,000 foster children.
Following reforms in recent years, the number of foster children has dropped to 15,680 now. The recent increase in deaths of children doesn't indicate the reforms have failed, Ploehn said. She noted DCFS investigates 160,000 to 180,000 reports of abuse and neglect each year.

Deanne Tilton Durfee, executive director of the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, agreed the increase in deaths is not a "significant increase in the larger spectrum of things," but she said every child death is a tragedy "so we have to pay attention to that."

"My perspective is that we need to assure that families are provided services to keep them safely together, but at the same time not view foster care as necessarily a totally negative experience," Tilton Durfee said. "For some children, foster care may be a very positive experience."

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