Georgia’s child protection agency could withhold further information from the public regarding the deaths of children under a bill sailing through the state Legislature.
Supporters of House Bill 75 say it represents a minor increase in the information that the agency can withhold, and is meant largely to help law enforcement hold back vital details of ongoing cases. Police say doing so helps weed out suspects and keep the guilty in the dark about what authorities know.
But some child welfare advocates say the measure could shield important material that should be made public about these children's deaths, thereby providing a measure of accountability.
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The bill focuses on the information contained in the case files of children under the watch of the state Division of Family and Children Services. These children have often been the victims of child abuse or neglect.
When a child with a DFCS history dies, state law provides that their case files become public record. The disclosure allows the public to see whether the agency acted properly in its efforts to protect the child. DFCS has a history of faltering in the care of these children, and has been criticized for stretching the bounds of what information it can legally withhold from the public.
Under current law, the agency is permitted to delete any “records” from these files provided by law enforcement or prosecutors in an ongoing case. The proposed law expands that exemption to include all “information” provided by police and prosecutors. So DFCS, for instance, could not only withhold a police report but also any police briefings on autopsies or other details of the case.
State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, a co-sponsor of the bill, said HB 75 merely extends to DFCS the same confidentiality afforded law enforcement. Police have the legal right to withhold a great amount of information in ongoing investigations.
“I think we have accepted the confidentiality of ongoing criminal investigation files,” said Oliver, D-Decatur.
Melissa Carter, executive director of the Barton Child Law and Policy Center at Emory University, said she believes DFCS was acting in good faith when it requested the bill. But in certain circumstances, she said, such a law could be used to withhold even basic details of what happened to the deceased child, if that information had come from the police.
“Information could fall through the cracks,” Carter said. “Disclosure to the public and media is part of the transparency.”
In an unusual twist, the bill has received the endorsement of several child welfare advocates who routinely oppose any legislation that would diminish the transparency of DFCS. But they see this bill as one that makes sense, and which could enhance the sometimes strained relationship between the police and DFCS.
Types of information made public in the past, would be hidden under the bill. For example, last year The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on the autopsy results of a 2-year-old girl who died in state care. The results challenged the story by the foster parent charged with killing the girl.
The AJC discovered that autopsy information in the DFCS file of Laila Marie Daniel, who police say died at the hands of foster mother Jennifer Rosenbaum. Those results would not be available under HB 75.
HB 75 passed the House in February, and is currently being reviewed in the state Senate. Child welfare advocates say they expect it to become law.
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