Senate probes Carcieri’s DCYF deficiences
A Senate hearing at the State House yesterday revealed what the DCYF has envolved into under Gov. Carcieri’s watch. The hearings, chaired by Sen. Rhoda Perry, have highlighted the importance of government oversight, especially when the administration appears more concerned about blocking marriage equality than they are about protecting children in a broken system.
From today’s ProJo:
Peter Sleicher had not spoken publicly about his family’s ordeal before yesterday.
The 43-year-old man waited three hours, sometimes pacing the vast halls of the State House, before sharing his experience with a packed meeting of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.
It was the second in a series of hearings focused on the inner workings of the DCYF, which is the target of a lawsuit by Child Advocate Jametta O. Alston. The class-action suit, backed by the New York group, Children’s Rights, claims systemic breakdowns at the child-welfare agency that has caused alleged widespread physical and mental abuse among the 3,000 children in state care.
Sleicher was the 14th person to testify at last night’s meeting. The people before him had told stories of children being stripped from mothers, allegedly for no reason; loving foster parents barred from contacting children raised in their home; social workers drunk on the job.
Sleicher read his statement quickly in a soft voice that betrayed his fear of public speaking. He stumbled over his words a few times. He nervously rubbed his fingers together.
“We feel that we have been used. We feel as though this type of conduct is destined to continue,” he said. “Is it appropriate to call these actions state-sponsored rape?”
Across the crowded room, DCYF Director Patricia Martinez’s face was in her hands
Here’s some video from last WPRI at 11.