McClain is leaving the job as DCF is embroiled in a class-action federal lawsuit brought by Children's Rights, a New York-based watchdog group. The suit accuses the agency of failing to protect children under its care from abuse, allowing kids to founder in the foster care system and doling out too many psychotropic drugs. The agency also has come under renewed scrutiny as the number of children dying in state care is on the rise, with 40 children dying in 2011, 36 in 2010, and 27 in 2009.
This is offered by Children's Rights:
Overview
Citing one of the nation’s highest rates of abuse of children in foster care and other persistent and severe problems throughout the Massachusetts child welfare system, the national advocacy group Children’s Rights and Boston law firm Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP – with the support of advocates and families throughout the state — filed a class action in federal court on April 15, 2010, seeking broad reform on behalf of 8,500 abused and neglected children statewide.Naming six child plaintiffs who have been badly harmed in Massachusetts foster care, the lawsuit (known as Connor B. v. Patrick) charges the state’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) with violating the constitutional rights of children by routinely placing them in dangerous and unstable situations once removed from their parents’ care and failing to take necessary actions to meet the legal and moral obligation of the state-run child welfare system to ensure the safety and well-being of children in its custody.
According to the children’s complaint, the rate at which children in Massachusetts foster care suffer abuse in state-supervised foster homes and institutions is nearly four times the national standard. DCF further traumatizes children by moving them frequently between foster placements; one-third of children in state foster care get shuffled around to at least five different placements during their time in state custody, according to the complaint. The complaint also points to the state’s decade-long failure to adequately prepare and support families to be successfully reunified with their children in foster care.
Massachusetts again elected a Governor with lofty promises and no experience, more focused on Predatory Gambling than substance. Appointments have been disappointing, to say the least.
How many more children will die?
When will we learn? And the man under whose leadership deaths increased has moved on?
It's time for change!
Deval Patrick's child welfare czar quits
The head of Massachusetts' Department of Children and Families is leaving the embattled agency to take a job in Washington with a trade group.
Angelo McClain was named CEO of the National Association of Social Workers, an advocacy and lobbying group for social workers, the group announced in a press release today.
McClain, who previously worked for a child welfare office in New Jersey, was appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick to lead DCF in 2007 after the agency had come under fierce fire following the high-profile deaths of several children in state care.
"Angelo has helped thousands of families become stronger and better prepared to protect and nurture their children," state Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz said in a statement several hours after the association announced McClain's hire. "He has been a mentor to foster children and helped institute some of the nation’s most comprehensive standards for addressing abuse and neglect.
Throughout his career he has served in numerous social services leadership roles across the country and we congratulate him on this prestigious position."
McClain is leaving the job as DCF is embroiled in a class-action federal lawsuit brought by Children's Rights, a New York-based watchdog group. The suit accuses the agency of failing to protect children under its care from abuse, allowing kids to founder in the foster care system and doling out too many psychotropic drugs. The agency also has come under renewed scrutiny as the number of children dying in state care is on the rise, with 40 children dying in 2011, 36 in 2010, and 27 in 2009.
The National Association of Social Workers said McClain will take over the job of CEO in May.
“The NASW Board of Directors is delighted to welcome Dr. McClain to NASW,” says NASW President Jeane Anastas. “We are confident that our organization, its members, and the communities social workers serve, will benefit greatly from Dr. McClain’s expertise and leadership in providing social work services for those in need.”
McClain is the latest member of Patrick's team to quit in recent months. He follows Administration and Finance Secretary Jay Gonzalez, Health and Human Services Secretary JudyAnn Bigby, Public Safety and Security Secretary Mary Beth Heffernan, Education Secretary Paul Reville and Department of Transitional Assistance Commissioner Daniel J. Curley.
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