The state Department of Children and Families does not check with local police when it vets possible foster parents, but that’s now being considered following the death of a foster child in Auburn last weekend.
Auburn Police say they had more than 60 contacts with the foster mother of the child who died and a second child who was hospitalized.
But that wasn’t considered by DCF when they approved the woman as a foster parent. Gov. Charlie Baker questioned whether 911 calls should be included in the vetting process.
"Some of them were self-generated," Baker said. "She was the person who called and said there was a problem in the neighborhood that somebody needed to look into."
And he says people shouldn’t be punished for that. But, the governor added, “In this day and age, that’s not hard data to collect. It probably ought to become part of the process.”
Nancy Allen Scannell, director of policy and planning for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which provides support to foster families, agrees.
"If you’re making a call to police for help, that wouldn’t say that you are either fit or unfit," Scannell said. "The underlying issues, though, certainly might reveal some very important information."
A spokesperson for the Department of Children and Families said the department’s commissioner was not available to comment.
