And for the state DCF:
"Remains of 3 infants found in Blackstone home, woman arrested; State’s welfare agency had removed four children from condemned dwelling weeks earlier" by Travis Andersen | Globe Staff September 11, 2014
BLACKSTONE — Investigators found the remains of three infants inside a squalid, vermin-infested home here on Thursday, two weeks after child welfare officials removed four children from the same address to protect them from suspected abuse or neglect, authorities said.
A woman identified as Erika Murray, a 31-year-old resident of the house, was arrested Thursday night and will be arraigned Friday on a witness intimidation charge, as well as additional unspecified charges stemming from living conditions in the residence, police and prosecutors said.
Authorities would not say whether Murray is related to any of the children who had been living in the house.
Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. told reporters near the condemned home at 23 St. Paul St. that the genders and ages of the deceased infants have not been determined, nor have the causes of their deaths. He refused to say if authorities knew the whereabouts of the parents on Thursday evening. He also said that no one has been charged with committing a homicide.
“What we know is that we have three infants that have been found deceased at this residence,” Early said. “The house is filled with vermin. We have flies, we have bugs. We have used diapers, in some areas as much as a foot-and-a-half to two feet high.
“The house is in deplorable condition.”
He said police were first called to the residence, which is within walking distance of police and fire headquarters on the same street, about two weeks ago after a child living in the home told a neighbor that one of the other children had been crying.
The crying child, who is 6 months old, was found covered in feces, Early said, leading the neighbor to call police.
I can't read anymore, sorry.
Early said four children, including the 6-month-old, a 3-year-old, a 10-year-old, and a 13-year-old, were then taken from the home by the state Department of Children and Families. He did not explain the lag between the children being taken from the home and Thursday’s chilling discovery.
Early’s office said State Police detectives arrived at the home on Wednesday night and found the remains during their investigation. Early said during the briefing Thursday that officials were continuing to search for additional remains and expected to be working at the home for the next few days.
In a statement, Cayenne Isaksen, a DCF spokeswoman, said the agency had no previous contact with the family until two weeks ago.
“The children are currently in the custody of the Department of Children and Families,” she said. “DCF has never had an open case with this family and learned about this situation through a 51A report,’’ which is a report of suspected abuse or neglect of a child.
Isaksen said that once DCF received the report, the agency notified the district attorney’s office, and that DCF is “working in collaboration with law enforcement to investigate the report.”
It was not immediately clear on Thursday night whether the four children in DCF custody were related to each other or to the deceased infants, or even how many adults had been living in the residence.
“We have to ascertain who was living in the house” as part of the investigation, Early said.
Timothy Connolly, a spokesman for Early, also declined to comment when asked about the parents of the children but said officials expect to provide an update on the case on Friday.
Blackstone is south of Worcester, near Rhode Island. Neighbors on the leafy street listened in stunned silence as Early laid out the details of the discovery. The residents later expressed shock and outrage.
“It’s deplorable,” said Marilynn Soucy, 68. “It’s horrible, and I hope somebody suffers for it. I can’t picture hurting a child.”
She said before Early’s briefing that she thought a woman and her boyfriend lived in the home with a girl and boy. Soucy said she would often see the boy playing outside.
“He always had a red shirt on,” she said.
When state welfare officials took custody of the children, the boy “was in the car of DCF and did not want to come out,” she said. “He was happy to be in there.”
Soucy added that on the same day that DCF took custody of the children, she saw the woman who lived in the home being led to the police station. Soucy said the woman did not appear distressed and was “just walking normal.”
Authorities did not identify any of the adults that had been living in the residence.
Investigators in protective body gear were seen on Thursday coming and going from the house, which was shielded by two blue tents set up in the street. Authorities had set up large spotlights to allow them to work throughout the night.
Another neighborhood resident, Denise Haughn, 49, was shocked even before Early confirmed the gruesome discovery, as the police presence grew steadily heavier during the day and rumors swirled about children living in awful conditions.
“This is the worst thing that’s ever happened in town, that I know of, in recent history,” Haughn said. “This is beyond crazy.”
Another neighbor, Dave Villandry, 38, struggled to contain his emotions after Early announced that three infants had been found dead.
“That’s just absolutely horrifying,” he said, adding that he smelled a foul odor whenever he walked by the house. “This is brutal. Nothing like this ever happens around here. This is a quiet little town. Are you kidding me? Three dead babies?”
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UPDATE: Mother in Blackstone case appears to have led a double life
Nondescript Blackstone home was a house of horrors
Related: DCF Delaying Records Releases
Just getting them in "order," right?
"Report offers guidance for DCF reforms" by Laura Crimaldi | Globe Staff September 11, 2014
A new report commissioned after the death of a Fitchburg toddler whose family was under the supervision of welfare officials suggests the state Department of Children and Families look to other states for guidance in reforming the child protection system in Massachusetts.
The report, written for the Boston Foundation and Strategic Grant Partners, is set to be released Thursday during an event featuring child advocates and researchers from Washington, D.C., Tennessee, and Massachusetts.
“We wanted to perhaps accelerate the process of improvement by bringing fresh ideas from around the country,” said Paul S. Grogan, the foundation’s president and chief executive. “A lot of states are doing better than we are on this.”
He said the foundation hopes the document is a favor to the next governor, who will be tasked with carrying out myriad reforms recommended in the wake of the case of Jeremiah Oliver, whose body was found on April 18 off of Interstate 190 in Sterling.
The child was 4 years old when he was last seen Sept. 14, 2013, nearly four months after he was last visited by a state social worker.
The new report, prepared by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, a Washington, D.C., think tank, cites five areas as critical to reforming child welfare agencies and gives examples of how other states have made those changes.
The areas include leadership, workforce training, and using data to assess the agency’s performance. The report also highlights the importance of collaboration between state caseworkers and outside service providers and using result-oriented methods to draft contracts with those providers.
“It’s not a recipe. It’s not a blueprint. It’s just examples of what we have seen over the years to be the critical things you have to pay attention to as you try to develop and implement a reform plan,” said Judith Meltzer, the principal author.
This is the fourth outside report about DCF since Oliver’s case came to light. A May report commissioned by Governor Deval Patrick and prepared by the Child Welfare League of America found the agency was not responsible for the child’s death.
Erin Deveney, the agency’s interim commissioner, said in an interview that improvements highlighted in the new report have been made, by adding staff, improving technology, and requiring training.
For example, the new report highlights technology being used in Indiana to track how long children in the child welfare agency have gone without a visit from a caseworker.
Deveney said her agency rolled out the same type of tool in July as part of upgrades to its caseload management system. The information is available to caseworkers, supervisors, and managers.
“It will tell the workers at an immediate glance: ‘Who are the kids that I haven’t made my monthly visits for,’ ” she said.
She said the agency has also hired nearly 420 social workers and distributed more than 2,000 iPads to workers in the field. This year’s budget also mandates that social workers complete 30 hours of training.
State Senator Michael Barrett, cochairman of the Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities, said that so far reform efforts have focused on hiring more social workers to handle the agency’s heavy caseload. The new report, he said, provides a road map for the future.
“This report basically sets an agenda for calendar year 2015,” Barrett said. “With a little breathing room, we can start surrounding troubled families with more support.”
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Sorry to abort this story, but....
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
Texas asks for OK to enforce clinic law
"Lawyer says Blackstone mom is mentally ill" by Laura Crimaldi, Patricia Wen and Milton Valencia | Globe staff September 13, 2014
BLACKSTONE — A mother of four was ordered held without bail Friday on charges related to the discovery of the remains of three infants in her squalid, rodent-infested home, two weeks after four unattended children were removed from the dwelling that is within walking distance of police and fire headquarters.
The woman, 31-year-old Erika Murray, appeared disheveled and expressionless in a brief court appearance as details began to emerge of her double life. Murray’s court-appointed lawyer, Keith Halpern, told reporters after a brief court hearing Friday that Murray apparently suffers from a mental illness....
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"Blackstone mother’s happy facade, hiding dark secrets" by Patricia Wen | Globe staff September 12, 2014
Less than a week ago, Erika Murray walked cheerfully into a relative’s home, where everyone was anticipating the birth of a new child. As a family member recalled, Murray did not look like a devastated woman whose children had been taken away and whose dark secrets were about to become public, nor did she seem on the verge of being arrested in connection with neglected and dead children.
That day, this relative recalled, the 31-year-old graduate of Northbridge High School appeared as she normally did: a woman who wears baggy, but clean clothes, and speaks with devotion about her life as a mother. On that day, she looked around a bedroom that was being converted into a nursery, with its freshly painted white walls and newly installed gray carpeting, and raved about the bright room where a crib would soon be assembled, according to a relative who was present that day.
It was just one recent example of Murray’s apparent ability to hide horrific secrets.
As police combed through the debris in Murray’s small home in Blackstone, where the remains of three dead infants were discovered this week, much remained uncertain....
What is certain is my lack of enthusiasm for this front-page, above-the-fold fare when I am so far behind on much more important matters.
It's all yours, readers, and judging from the hits you don't give a shit either.
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Related: Nondescript Blackstone home was a house of horrors
A haunted house just in time for Halloween.
