The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families is facing more criticism, this time from a central Massachusetts schools superintendent.
This started last month when it became clear state social workers had lost track of Jeremiah Oliver, age 5, who is feared dead.
Now concerns are surfacing about a DCF office in Whitinsville, where the school superintendent alleges the agency ignored repeated reports of suspected abuse.
Governor Deval Patrick said the DCF commissioner is trying to get the facts.
“I think every incident that is a real incident is a serious one and i think you've seen from the commissioner and her team and the rest of this administration that we've taken it very seriously,” Patrick said.
The Governor would not commit to structural changes, but Attorney General Martha Coakley, who is running for governor, is proposing a new investigative unit within DCF whose only mission would be to look out for the safety of the child.
“The mandate of the department is to do two things: to keep families together and to keep kids safe and there’s an inherent conflict in those two missions.”
Coakley said that conflict increases the risk that children will be left with their abusers for too long.
