DENVER—Many of Colorado’s child abuse workers are inexperienced and overwhelmed and at times failed to take basic steps to protect children, and 72 children in the child welfare system in Colorado have died over the past six years, according to a report in the Denver Post.
The newspaper reported Monday ( ) that workers failed to follow state policy at least half of the time when assigned to protect a child who later died of abuse or neglect.
Mistakes ranged from paperwork problems to not visiting a child within the time required. In some cases, workers dismissed abuse allegations prior to a child’s death without investigating.
Child protection workers failed to note unsafe living conditions, concerns about caregivers and previous contacts with the child welfare system before children were killed, according to 59 state child fatality reviews released to The Post.
“We gave them an unmanageable, thankless job,” said Skip Barber, executive director of the Colorado Association of Family and Children’s Agencies, a group of not-for-profit advocacy agencies. “If a caseworker makes a mistake, it’s front-page news. The system was set up to fail.”
Janet Gallegos said she had a feeling her 3-year-old granddaughter, Neveah, was in danger, but caseworkers failed to help.
“We asked and asked and asked them, ‘Please protect Neveah. Do a follow-up.’ They didn’t do anything to help,” she said.
In 2007, nine months after caseworkers closed their investigation over a reported sexual assault against the girl, the child was killed by her mother’s boyfriend and her mother helped him stuff the body into a plastic trash bag.
In May, the boyfriend, Angel Montoya, was sentenced to a life sentence without parole in the girl’s slaying. Neveah’s mother, Miriam Gallegos, pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death and is serving a 12-year-sentence.
The state Human Services Department reviewed child deaths for five years and found in 2002 that child protective workers were doing a poor job assessing the safety risks of children living in allegedly abusive homes.
In 2010 and 2011, state agency reviews in 33 counties found that casework was still inadequate. Additional training was ordered, but follow-up reviews have not been completed to determine if it’s working.
Colorado Department of Human Services director Reggie Bicha said there is no way to determine the best caseload ratio.
“We can get that information and analyze it, but then compare it to what?” Bicha said.
Caseworkers said they are overwhelmed.
Amy Hinkle, an ambitious college graduate, quit after one year. She earned $28,000 and worked 60-hour weeks.
“Every single day, I wanted to give those kids the time and attention they deserved,” said the 23-year-old, who now works for an adoption agency. “It would become hard to turn the focus back to the children.”
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Information from: The Denver Post,
