Independent Report Finds Shortcomings in RI DCYF

An independent report on Rhode Island's child welfare agency has found serious shortcomings.

The Providence Journal reports that the Public Consulting Group Inc. report found that the Department of Children, Youth and Families failed to meet the target outcomes in 12 of 20 performance areas. The report covers the second half of 2018.

More >> Independent Report Finds Shortcomings in RI DCYF

Independent report finds shortcomings in DCYF

An independent report on Rhode Island's child welfare agency has found serious shortcomings.

More >> Independent report finds shortcomings in DCYF

RI woman had to adopt her own biological son; bill to change that failed

Sara Watson and Anna Ford decided on their son’s name four days after he was born. But when they went to fill out his birth certificate and name him “Eli,” they received some unexpected news.

“The hospital staff said, we’re really, really sorry but you can’t put your name on this birth certificate,” Watson recalled.

More >> RI woman had to adopt her own biological son; bill to change that failed

Warwick woman pleads not guilty in adopted girl’s death

A scathing report by the state’s child advocate found that years of ineptitude by the state’s child welfare system led directly to the death of Zha-Nae, who had cerebral palsy and drowned in a bathtub.

More >> Warwick woman pleads not guilty in adopted girl’s death

Report: DCYF at fault for child's death

The Rhode Island Office of the Child Advocate has concluded through an extensive report released Tuesday that the Rhode Island Department of Child Youth and Families (DCYF) “created” the situation that led to the death of a 9-year-old Oakland Beach girl in January.

The child, Zah-Nae Rothgeb, was one of eight children under the supervision of one woman, Michele Rothgeb, who over the course of 13 years had contact with 13 different children in the foster care system through DCYF. Zah-Nae was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and had a slew of other health complications, and each of the children under Rothgeb’s care had at least one physical or mental health diagnosis.

More >> Report: DCYF at fault for child's death

Lawmaker seeks AG probe of foster child’s death

A lawmaker is asking Rhode Island’s attorney general to investigate the state’s child welfare agency following the death of a 9-year-old girl in foster care.

Democratic Rep. Joseph Solomon, of Warwick, said Friday the attorney general should determine whether there is any criminal liability in the case of Zha Nae Rothgeb, who was found dead in a bathtub at a Warwick home in January.

More >> Lawmaker seeks AG probe of foster child’s death

• Report: DCYF 'inaction' contributes to death of foster child

Child Advocate report: DCYF partly to blame for Warwick girl’s death

The state’s Office of the Child Advocate has released the findings of its investigation into the death of a 9-year-old Warwick girl, who was found face down in the bathtub of her adopted mother’s home in January.

The 57-page report includes a lengthy timeline of Michele Rothgeb’s dealings with the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) leading up to the discovery of Zhanae Rothgeb’s body.

More >> Child Advocate report: DCYF partly to blame for Warwick girl’s death

• Report: DCYF ‘inaction’ contributes to death of foster child
• 'This is murder,' RI state representative says of DCYF's role in Warwick girl's death
• Caseworker: DCYF sent children with nowhere else to go Rothgeb’s way
• R.I. lawmakers berate child-welfare head over death of girl with special needs

Child Advocate report: DCYF partly to blame for Warwick girl’s death

The state’s Office of the Child Advocate has released the findings of its investigation into the death of a 9-year-old Warwick girl, who was found face down in the bathtub of her adopted mother’s home in January.

The 57-page report includes a lengthy timeline of Michele Rothgeb’s dealings with the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) leading up to the discovery of Zhanae Rothgeb’s body.

More >> Child Advocate report: DCYF partly to blame for Warwick girl’s death

Group Home Supervisor Sentenced to 10 Years for Sex Trafficking Minor

A supervisor at Blackstone Valley Youth and Family Collaborative group home contracted by the Rhode Island Department of Children Youth and Families (RI DCYF) who repeatedly sex-trafficked a missing 17-year-old girl has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

More >> Group Home Supervisor Sentenced to 10 Years for Sex Trafficking Minor

Ex-Group Home Worker Gets 10 Years for Sex Trafficking Teen

A former supervisor at a Rhode Island group home that contracted with the state child welfare agency has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl.

The U.S. attorney says 29-year-old Reysean Williams was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty in November to sex trafficking a child.

More >> Ex-Group Home Worker Gets 10 Years for Sex Trafficking Teen

RI DCYF makes changes in policy, personnel after death of girl, 9

The state Department of Children, Youth and Families has made changes in personnel and policy following the death of a 9-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who was in foster care.

Trista Piccola, director of the Department of Children, Youth and Families, held a morning news conference at DCYF headquarters to explain the changes she has implemented following a three-month investigation into the death of Zah-Nae, a 9-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who was found unresponsive in a bathtub on Jan. 3.

More >> RI DCYF makes changes in policy, personnel after death of girl, 9

INVESTIGATION: DCYF Wrongfully Removed Children From RI Mother, According to State Report

A Rhode Island mother is speaking out after winning appeals against the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) for taking custody of her two children — which was found in an administrative decision to have been wrong.

West Warwick’s April Doyle received a fifty-six page decision from Karen Walsh, an Appeals Officer at the Office of Health and Human Services, on February 25, which granted appeals in five separate investigations that found there was insufficient evidence to support allegations by DCYF of "inadequate shelter" and "neglect" by Doyle.

More >> INVESTIGATION: DCYF Wrongfully Removed Children From RI Mother, According to State Report

Governor Backs DCYF Director After No Confidence Vote

A spokesperson for Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo says the governor has "full confidence" in the director of the Department of Children, Youth and Families after union workers issued a vote of no confidence.

Union president Kathy McElroy previously said the group voted overwhelmingly against DCYF Director Trista Piccola Wednesday, citing staffing issues and the recent death of a 9-year-old girl.

More >> Governor Backs DCYF Director After No Confidence Vote

Four DCYF workers sidelined after death of girl, 9

Four workers at Rhode Island’s Department for Children, Youth and families have been sidelined pending a review, following the death of an adopted, nine-year old girl with cerebral palsy who once was in care of the child welfare agency, and was one of eight children found in squalid conditions January 3 in a home on Oakland Beach Avenue in Warwick.

“At this time we have one person on administrative leave and three others on restricted responsibilities, said DCYF Director Trista Piccola, in a news conference convened Wednesday to offer the agency’s first comments in the nearly two weeks since the death of Zah-Nae Rothgeb.

More >> Four DCYF workers sidelined after death of girl, 9

Mother of 8 adopted children with special needs arrested after 9-year-old found dead in tub

A Rhode Island woman was arrested after her 9-year-old adopted daughter with special needs died and seven more of her adoptive children were found living in filthy conditions in the same home.

Michelle Rothgeb was arrested Sunday on charges of cruelty to, or neglect of a child, according to the Warwick Police Department.

More >> Mother of 8 adopted children with special needs arrested after 9-year-old found dead in tub

State police arrest suspended lawyer accused of threatening R.I. judge

A suspended lawyer was released on personal recognizance Friday after a state police detective told a judge that the man had sent threatening emails to the Supreme Court’s chief disciplinary counsel, writing that he should have “bombed that place” and that a Supreme Court justice should “just be shot in the face.”

More >> State police arrest suspended lawyer accused of threatening R.I. judge

DCYF: No sign of trauma in baby who died in foster care; investigation continues

Preliminary findings of an autopsy on an 18-day-old boy who died in foster care Wednesday showed no “visible signs of physical trauma,” says the state Department of Children, Youth and Families.

“The medical examiner is still awaiting further test results for a final conclusion on the child’s cause of death,” the agency said in a statement Thursday. “Our child protective services unit is completing its usual investigation.”

More >> DCYF: No sign of trauma in baby who died in foster care; investigation continues

DCYF investigating death of baby in foster care

State child welfare officials are investigating the death of an 18-day-old boy in foster care early Wednesday morning.

A spokesman with the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families confirmed the death, but said, “We cannot comment further at this time, because of confidentiality laws.”

More >> DCYF investigating death of baby in foster care

Federal audit finds fault with R.I. DCYF, but notes heavy caseload

The federal government has given the state Department of Children, Youth and Families a critical review of how it is meeting many of its objectives.

In a report being released this week by the Administration for Children & Families, a division of the federal Department of Health & Human Services, the report found the agency needed improvement in 21 of 28 different areas reviewed.

More >> Federal audit finds fault with R.I. DCYF, but notes heavy caseload

• Report: DCYF strained by caseload, needs large improvements
• GOP group unveils ad blaming Raimondo for DCYF woes

Dealing with RI DCYF “Hell” Says Grandmother of Rescuing Grandchildren from Drug-Addicted Son

A grandmother in Rhode Island is calling out the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) after saying she “went through hell” to get her grandchildren from her drug-addicted son and partner — and wants to help other grandparents throughout New England who are going through similar situations.

“I lost everything in Colorado. My whole life was there,” said Coventry resident Sharon Cabral, who returned home to Rhode Island in 2015 to rescue two of her grandchildren from what she said was her son and partner’s “drug squalor” — and said she became so worn out by the DCYF process that she all but gave up trying to adopt a third grandchild.

More >> Dealing with RI DCYF “Hell” Says Grandmother of Rescuing Grandchildren from Drug-Addicted Son