Last month, the Baltimore Banner reported on an alarming rise in the number of child fatalities due to maltreatment in Maryland, as shown by a federal report. The number of child abuse and neglect deaths reported by Maryland to the federal Children’s Bureau was 83 for Fiscal Year 2023, up from 27 a decade before, a rate higher than any state but Mississippi.
After initially responding with confusion, the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS) explained that the numbers it reported to the feds were erroneous. Actually, the state was aware of 47 children who died of abuse or neglect in 2023, which was still a 75% increase from 2013. “We continue to discover where data was routinely released without any validation or reconciliation,” a deputy DHS secretary told the Banner.
But members of the legislature were already alarmed and began talking about withholding funds until the agency was able to report accurate data about child fatalities as well as the conditions of children in foster care. Eager to demonstrate its desire for transparency, DHS announced that it was pivoting to support a bill requiring the agency to promptly release information about children in foster care who die from suspected maltreatment.
But this legislation would not apply to children who died while in the custody of their parents or guardians. It would not apply, for instance, to five-year-old Zona Byrd, who starved to death last year after being returned to her parents’ custody; four-year-old Amir James, who arrived at the hospital covered in cuts and bruises and died from skull fractures that caused his brain to bleed, while his twin brother survived similar injuries; 16-month-old Zavier Giron, who had several broken ribs, a dislocated femur and a perforated intestine when he died; and two-year-old Charlee Gamble, who was shot in the head by an unsecured gun that her father purchased illegally and left on a TV stand. The bill would apply only to cases of abuse or neglect in foster care — even though they are a rare occurrence. Indeed, less than 1% of perpetrators of child maltreatment fatalities reported nationwide for Fiscal Year 2023 were foster parents or staff of a group home or residential treatment facility.
The chair of the Maryland House Judiciary Committee conducting a hearing on the bill wondered if the bill was too narrow, but one of the sponsors, Del. Susan McComas, responded, “Whether it’s a little step or a big step, I don’t really care. I think we need to do something. And I think we could start with just this.”
The sentiment to do something is admirable, but in this case it will likely not even make a dent in the lack of public accountability and transparency when children die of maltreatment.
To prevent such tragedies, we need improved data collection, timely notification and greater transparency by agencies that investigate such fatalities and are responsible for protecting children. Maryland should pass a bill that requires prompt notification of any child fatality that has been reported to child protective services. Eleven other states already do this. Without such notifications, legislators and the public may never know about some child abuse deaths, especially those that did not result in criminal charges. In addition, DHS should be required to respond promptly to requests for further information about all suspected child maltreatment fatalities, not just those where the child was in foster care or state custody. It is only by achieving such transparency that DHS can work with the legislature, researchers and child advocates to prevent these tragic events in the future.
Originally published as a guest commentary in the Baltimore Sun.