#child-abuse-investigations

#child-abuse-investigations

Initial reviews have identified that in some cases where there has been a decision to take no further action (NFA), there were available lines of inquiry that could have been pursued. We've seen in those cases what appears to be potentially human error. We've seen in some cases that those investigations haven't followed what we would characterise as proper investigative practice, actually that would have contributed to the NFA decision. That includes, for example, lines of inquiry being identified but not being followed, victim accounts not being taken in a way that we would recognise as best practice, and suspects not being pursued or interviewed in the ways that we would anticipate.

When the pandemic began, DESE explained in the audit, DCF stopped receiving paper copy records. "A breakdown in communication between DESE and DCF began in February 2020 and continued undetected for 41 months, which included the entire audit period," the audit said. "As a result, potentially serious and substantiated findings of child abuse or neglect, possibly involving licensed educators, remain unexamined and unaddressed."