‘Entire safety net failed’
Lawmakers grill officials in oversight hearing on death of teen
Lawmakers questioned state officials for more than nine hours about an autistic teen who died under DCF care, drilling down on why he was ever returned to his abusive family — a question that still remains unanswered.
“I’m very concerned we are going to be back here year after year … we have to figure out a way to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Rep. Natalie Blais said in a Tuesday Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities oversight hearing.
David Almond, 14, of Fall River, who had autism, died of starvation in October after living in a house of squalor kept by his father John Almond and his girlfriend Jaclyn Coleman, officials have said.
David’s triplet brother Michael and half-brother Aiden also lived in the home, and both tested positive for fentanyl when police responded to the house in what the Office of the Child Advocate has described as a “multi-system failure” on behalf of the Department of Children and Families and other agencies.
OCA Director Maria Mossaides said in Tuesday’s hearing her office was “not able to get a specific reason” why David and Michael had been reunited with their father after living at a residential school where they thrived and their third brother “Noah” remained.
DCF Commissioner Linda Spears was also unable to provide an answer to the key question on reunification.
“It’s clear to me in looking at the case of David Almond, that one of the things that we did not attend to were the unique needs of this child,” Spears told lawmakers.
The boys were also never visited in person by DCF workers, as the state transitioned to remote operations and Coleman evaded check-ins.
John Almond and Coleman are facing criminal charges in David Almond’s death.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said, “the entire safety net failed David Almond,” later adding, “There were multiple touchpoints that might have resulted in a different outcome.”
State Sen. John Velis said the state’s switch to remote visits had “catastrophic consequences.”
“If someone had gotten in that door, they probably would have seen those bags of heroin, those bags of fentanyl,” Velis said.
Spears, along with officials from other organizations such as the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the state juvenile court, and the department of probation, all said they are taking on a series of recommendations made by OCA to better protect children.
For DCF, that includes adding consultation services on mental health, substance abuse, and mental illness, a reunification review, initial placement review, and training for staff.
Also on Tuesday, the Baker administration and SEIU Local 509 announced a set of reforms aimed at strengthening foster care and expediting permanency for children, addressing the needs of children who have been removed from their families, and revising DCF’s foster care policy.