State human-services reviews of 10 child deaths since 2004 determined in eight cases that social caseworkers acted appropriately – though sometimes they could have made greater efforts at helping troubled families, records show.
In two of the deaths, state officials cited caseworkers for doing a poor job of protecting the children.
One case involved an underweight Morgan County girl who died in August 2004.
The second was a year-old Weld County girl who was beaten or shaken to death in March 2004.
The state recommended changes to how the counties handle such cases, but offered no disciplinary alternatives.
“Obviously the worst outcomes occur for these cases, and what we must and can do is to learn from them, to analyze how counties approach them, (and) implemented good practices,” Colorado Department of Human Services spokeswoman Liz McDonough said.
State officials on Monday said they would review the case of Chandler Grafner, an emaciated 7-year-old boy who died May 6 in the care of his half brother’s father. Jon Phillips, 26, and his common-law wife, Sarah Berry, 21, have been charged with murdering Chandler.
The state is required to review all child deaths if they occur within five years of any contact with a county’s human services.
The couple had custody of Chandler and his 5-year-old half brother, Dominick Phillips, granted to them by a Jefferson County magistrate in January.
Human-services workers in Jefferson and Denver counties had contact with the boys beginning with neglect allegations against their mother, Christina Grafner, in 2005 and ending with abuse allegations against Phillips earlier this year.
The entire review process could take up to two months and will start in about two weeks, once the county is done with its review.
Three of the state’s reviews were of children who died in Denver. Officials praised the city for how it handled abuse allegations against the three families and said the deaths were unforeseeable.
The last was a December 2005 case in which a 2-year-old boy, Zoey Espinoza, died, though the cause of his death was not spelled out in reports. Caseworkers were admonished for not documenting additional bruising reports.
There were no cases involving Jefferson County, records show.
Reviews were also conducted of child deaths in El Paso, Arapahoe, Mesa and Adams counties.
In the Morgan County death of Halie Wiley, caseworkers were tagged for violating seven state rules covering child-abuse investigations – including in one instance not reporting the bruises they saw on the girl. A doctor who noted bruises on the girl during a hospital visit was also admonished for not immediately reporting his concerns, which is required by state law.
No one was charged in the girl’s death, records show.
In the Weld County death of Genevieve Curtis, investigators found abuse allegations began within months of the girl’s birth. Caseworkers were slow to respond to some reports and failed to do a criminal background check on a man living in the home with the girl’s mother.
The man, Thomas Stewart, was convicted of felony child abuse and knowingly causing the girl’s death.
