In the wake of an infant’s death in Arundel, state officials want to identify weaknesses in the system.
By David Hench dhench@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Responding to the death of Ethan Henderson, the
Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee held a hearing
Wednesday to discuss how the state Office of Child and Family Services
responds to abuse complaints and why few details have been released
about Ethan's case.
Related headlines
One obstacle to intervention, identified by a state panel
that studies deaths and serious injuries to children, is the failure of
professionals who are mandated to report suspected abuse, state
officials testified.
A day-care worker told the state Department of Health and Human Services
about suspected abuse in Ethan's home in Arundel, according to a police
affidavit, which also said that Ethan's arm was broken six weeks before
he died.
The committees's House chair, Meredith Strang Burgess, R-Cumberland,
said she thought it was important for the committee to be briefed on the
state's response to suspected abuse.
"The Health and Human Services Committee, as the committee of
oversight for DHHS, clearly had an interest in what was going on," she
said, referring to the circumstances of the death of Ethan, who
allegedly was killed by his father in a fit of frustration.
Strang Burgess worked with Senate Chair Earle McCormick, R-West
Gardiner, to hold the hearing after a reporter with The Portland Press
Herald asked why more details about the case were not forthcoming.
The committee heard from a representative from the Attorney General's
Office, who said state law prohibits the DHHS from discussing specifics
of a case that is under investigation.
DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew told legislators that caseworkers have been deeply affected by the incident.
"To state that their jobs are not easy and thankless would be a vast
understatement," Mayhew said. "I cannot think of any type of work where
the stakes are so high and the performance so scrutinized."
Mayhew said that whenever a child suffers abuse, caseworkers are emotionally affected.
"I know that staff throughout our state are feeling that pain today," Mayhew said.
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