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The Mass. Department of Children and Families failed to keep track of hundreds of incidents of bodily harm to children in care and did not properly report some incidents of rape, attempted suicide and assault to its overseer agency, according to state Auditor Suzanne Bump.
Bump's audit analysed state medical expenses from 2014 and 2015 and found that of 617 incidents of bodily harm to children that required medical treatment, 260 cases were not investigated by DCF and not included in those children's case files.
Bump's office said the injuries included assaults, poisonings, suicide attempts, bone fractures and more.
Bump also found that DCF does not report all critical incidents of harm to the Office of the Child Advocate, the state office given oversight authority over DCF after a rash of child abuse cases and fatalities revealed problems at the agency.
According to Bump's audit, of a sample of 40 cases, DCF did not share data on 16 incidents Bump classified as critical, including incidents of rape, stabbing, gunshots, rape, suicide attempt by fire and assault with a baseball bat.
The audit, released Thursday, found that the reporting standards between the agencies are not aligned.
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has invested more than $100 million dollars toward reforming the system since taking office in 2015. His office says many of the problems with the agency have already been corrected.
Bump, a Democrat who served as labor secretary to former Gov. Deval Patrick, launched her campaign for a third term as Auditor Wednesday.
