After death of ‘Baby Doe’ Bella, Mass. governor calls for child services reform

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced major reforms to the state's child protection agency Monday after recent tragedies, including the case of Baby Bella, the toddler whose body washed up on the shore of Boston Harbor.

The steps are aimed at reducing caseloads, retaining social workers and updating policies for investigating cases, the governor's office said.

At the core of the reforms is a change of focus for the embattled Department of Children and Families. No longer will it prioritize keeping families together over ensuring the welfare of a child.

"Keep children safe, first and foremost. And then, if that can be done by strengthening a family, great. If it can't, no," DCF Commissioner Linda Spears said at a news conference announcing the changes.

Baby Bella, whose real name was Bella Bond, was found in a bag on a Deer Island shoreline in June. The identity of the 2-year-old was a mystery until this month, when a family friend came forward with information.

Bella's mother and the mother's boyfriend were later charged in her death.

Systemic problems at DCF

The case highlighted problems at DCF because the agency twice received reports of neglect involving Bella and closed both cases. The agency said it determined neglect was involved in the first one, in 2012, but it still shut the case. There were no details about the second one, which happened the following year.

Child welfare authorities had also terminated the mother's parental rights over two other children by the time the agency investigated Bella's case, but DCF policy reportedly would not allow that to have any bearing on the investigation of Bella.

"Systemic policy reforms are necessary to support the efforts of our social workers, supervisors and managers who are on the front lines protecting the Commonwealth's children," Baker said in a statement.

"Reducing caseloads, retaining and recruiting social workers and ensuring clear and concise policies for supervision and case management are all necessary to ensuring the agency is able to focus on its primary duty of keeping children safe."

The head of the union representing social workers hailed the announced changes and said they may finally produce meaningful reform after years of "quick fixes."

"This is an unprecedented collaboration between frontline child protection workers and agency administrators," said social worker Peter MacKinnon, the DCF chapter president of SEIU Local 509. "Working together, we will succeed in doing what has been necessary for so long -- making deep, systemic changes."

Reforms and policy changes

Among the reforms is reinstating the position of social work technicians, whose jobs were eliminated in a 2009 budget cut. They perform support services such as driving children to and from appointments, which frees up social workers to focus more on their cases.

For the first time in 12 years, DCF will also update its intake policy, which covers the time from when an allegation of abuse or neglect is filed to the opening of a case. And a new supervisor policy will include more detailed and mandated steps for case review.

Both are to be implemented by mid-November.

"While I don't expect the ship to turn tomorrow, I do believe the following," Baker said. "Despite all of the reports and studies that have been done over the past decade concerning shortcomings at DCF, there has not been a coordinated, sustained effort to bake improvements and reforms into the daily operations of the department.

"The mission statement has been confusing and, in the absence of the overall playbook concerning all aspects of case practice, very hard to deliver on."

Earlier tragedies

Bella's case is not the first in which DCF policies have come under review.

In 2013, two DCF employees were fired after failing to conduct in-person monthly checks on the family of 5-year-old Jeremiah Oliver, who was missing for five months before police were notified of his disappearance.

Jeremiah's body was found on the side of a highway the following year.

In July, 7-year-old Jack Loiselle was taken to a hospital in a coma with signs of dehydration, starvation and bleach burns after his father called 911 to say he was unresponsive, CNN affiliate WCVB reported.

Baker said last month he was troubled that so many social workers had let Jack slip under the radar.

The father and his girlfriend were indicted this week on five felony charges in the case, WCVB reported. The boy is now being treated in a long-term care facility.