Vigil will mark Fall River teen s starvation death heraldnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heraldnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Safeguards in place, especially at DCF and its Fall River office, “were inadequate,” according the OCA.
The report indicates the need for changes and outlined some 25 recommendations, some which will require action by the legislature as well as policy and procedural changes.
“Everyone should take the time to read this report. It is horrific, we know that. Everyone failed David and his brothers, and the report clearly demonstrates that,” said Fiola. “Now the really hard part is to figure out how to fix this broken system.”
Fiola is encouraged, she said, by House Speaker Ron Mariano and the Senate’s call for the oversight probe by the joint committee.
Enrolled in Fall River, but never attended classes
On Wednesday, Maria Mossaides, the state’s Child Advocate, released a report detailing how child welfare agencies in New York, where the boys previously lived with their mother, and Massachusetts along with Fall River Public Schools and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education failed to take steps that may have prevented David’s death.
In March of last year, when Almond and Coleman gained custody of David and Michael, they enrolled the boys in fully remote classes at Henry Lord Middle School. Last fall, a few weeks before David died, they became students at Durfee and signed up for remote classes there.