Mar 21, 2006 3:37 pm US/Eastern
Poutre Panel Recommends Sweeping Reforms
BOSTON (CBS4) ―
The special panel appointed by Gov. Romney to review the Haleigh Poutre case has issued several recommendations for the protection of children in state custody.
Poutre has been in state custody since she was hospitalized in September 2005, when authorities say she was beaten into a coma by her adoptive mother and stepfather.
About a week after taking custody, the Department of Social Services sought permission to remove her from life support when her doctors said she was in a persistent vegetative state.
After a legal battle between the DSS and Haleigh's stepfather -- who was trying to keep her on life support -- Haleigh started showing signs of improvement. She was subsequently admitted to the Franciscan Hospital for Children in Boston, and DSS officials say Haleigh is medically stable.
The Panel found that what happened to Haleigh did not have to happen and this case represents a systemic failure on the part of the DSS, the Department of Mental Health (DMH) and the private sector health care community. The Panel has made concrete recommendations that the child welfare agencies and the health care community must embrace to protect and better care for high-risk children.
Among the recommendations; the creation of a new process for DSS in the event a doctor requests a child be taken off a life support system. The panel also recommends DSS obtain a second medical opinion and provide all of this information to the court, guardian and child's attorney.
It also suggests DSS place on retainer panels of medical professionals in the areas of child abuse and psychiatry and establish a new system to ensure that makes it easier for workers to get vital information from both inside and outside the Department, on a child who is the subject of an abuse or neglect report.
The panel also believes the Legislature should consider extending the ten day period for investigations of reports of abuse or neglect to 20 days.
Gov. Romney thanked the review panel for its service and said he will work to implement the recommendations.
DSS Commissioner Spence released a statement on the work done by the Governor's Panel:
"We are grateful for the outstanding work of the Governor's Special Panel in reviewing the Department's work with respect to Haleigh Poutre and in recommending ways to strengthen protection for children who present with serious medical and mental health problems. We share the Panel's view that the State must undertake systemic improvements in the medical, mental health and child welfare fields to reduce the likelihood of tragedies to children such as this one."
"In summary, the Panel calls on the medical, mental health and child welfare worlds to work intensively and closely to better meet the needs of children. With the Governor's support, we pledge our fullest efforts to that work."
"In the meanwhile, we continue our care and support for a brave child who today is trying to recuperate from brutal abuse"
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
