Mayor: Major Changes To Child Abuse Reports After 3 Deaths In 18 Months
DENVER (CBS4) - Denver's mayor announced major changes to the child welfare system on Wednesday after a toddler died at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend.
Javion Johnson died last month. His mother and her boyfriend have been charged in connection to his death. Javion is one of three child abuse deaths in Denver in the last 18 months. All three had been reported to the Department of Human Services before their deaths.
Candice Lampley and Delonta Crank have been charged with first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury in Javion's death.
The city of Denver had more than 30,000 reports of child abuse just last year alone. In 10 of those cases a child was killed or nearly killed. But it was Javion's death that became pivotal for the city.
After Javion's death, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said no child should have to endure such abuse. So he brought city agencies and nonprofits together to conduct an urgent review of the city's child welfare system.
Some of the changes are significant and many are already being implemented.
"A little more than a month ago our community; we all were shocked by the death of 23-month old Javion Johnson," said Hancock on Wednesday.
Hancock acknowledged the city let down Javion.
"We're bringing more expertise to the table, and at the same time there's no question I'm asking my team how we can work better and smarter," said Executive Director of Human Services Don Mares.
Mares said before a child abuse report is dismissed, three teams of experts will need to sign off on the case. The City of Denver is also working to identify at-risk children earlier in the process.
"What we're trying to do is really do a collective call upon the entire community to step up and engage. We have 100,000 kids, a little over 100,000 school-age children in our city today," Hancock said. "We now know that we in one month can see 50,000 of them come through the (recreation) program."
The task force recommendations include training all city employees who have contact with kids how to identify and report child abuse; stationing social workers in schools with more at-risk kids; and having medical professionals help review reports of abuse to determine if an investigation is warranted.
Another recommendation will also automatically deploy investigators when there are two reports in 14 months and the child is under the age of five.
"We know young children often can't articulate what is happening to them, so when we receive allegations of abuse involving a young child our workers need to see and understand what's happening," Mares said.
Eighty percent of child abuse reports come from authorities. The task force intends to hold public hearing over the next few months to learn, in part, why it is neighbors and family members are reluctant to report abuse when it happens.
The mayor says more changes are coming.
