“We Are Not Here to Save Children”: Marie Cohen on Preventable Child Deaths in the District of Columbia

(Note to listener: This episode contains mention of child abuse and child fatalities.)

When children who are already on the radar of their child protection agency die from abuse, it is essential to ask whether and how this death could have been avoided. In particular, could the agency have prevented the death by doing something differently?

In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Marie Cohen, a child welfare policy analyst, researcher, and former Washington, DC social worker. Marie authors a blog, Child Welfare Monitor, where she recently released a report analyzing the deaths of 16 children in Washington, DC in which the death was the result of child abuse, or in which child abuse could not be ruled out as a cause of death. Marie discusses her observations from working within DC’s Child and Family Services Agency and participating in a Child Fatality Review Panel in the district, noting the ways social workers were trained to focus on strengths in the families they were working with and the agency’s attempts to prevent a “savior” mentality. She also shares her experience trying to obtain data on these fatalities from the Child and Family Services Agency, noting that the lack of transparency and available data makes it difficult to determine how these deaths could be prevented in the future.

Resources:

• We Are Not Here to Save Children: Abuse and Neglect Deaths after Contact with Child Welfare Services in the District of Columbia, 2019-2021 | Marie Cohen
• Putting the Kids First: A Child Welfare System That Works | Naomi Schaefer Riley

Show Notes:

• 1:07 | How did Child Welfare Monitor originate, and what work are you doing with DC in particular?
• 3:50 | What was involved in your work with the DC Child Fatality Review panel?
• 7:09 | What were your top-line findings when investigated the stories of the 16 children who died in DC?
• 8:48 | How do such blatant deaths of children occur after the child protection system is already involved?
• 13:27 | What should states be doing to be more transparent?
• 15:24 | What would the response of the DC child welfare leadership be if they read this report?
• 19:08 | What are your recommendations for greater transparency from child welfare agencies and ways to help prevents deaths like these in the future?