Key Rhode Island lawmakers are backing a change in the minimum requirements for the director of the state’s troubled Department of Children, Youth and Families, and more specifically: elimination of the requirement that the director have a master’s degree in social work.
The Associated Press canvassed the 50 states, the District of Columbia and all branches of the military and discovered that at least 786 children died of abuse or neglect in the U.S. in a six-year span in plain view of child protection authorities. Many states struggled to provide numbers. Secrecy often prevailed.
The RI Senate Task Force charged with investigating the Department of Children, Youth, and Families and the two networks that provide services to DCYF families, has recommended that DCYF “monitor the networks more closely and be more involved with the families it serves” according to the Providence Journal. The task force offered 20 recommendations to improve DCYF.
