Lawmakers draft new bills in response to West Haven boy's death

SALT LAKE CITY – Two lawmakers are taking steps to address the death of a 12-year-old West Haven boy with legislative action.

Prosecutors allege Gavin Peterson died from prolonged abuse, blaming his father, stepmother and eldest brother for his July 9 death.

Reps. Tyler Clancy (R), District 60, and Christine Watkins (R), District 67, are proposing legislation that targets several fronts.

Clancy is reviving a bill proposed earlier this year that would expand free school meal programs to students who qualify for reduced-price lunches. He also wants to simplify the application process for parents.

“We have heard of school lunch workers going beyond their role and responsibility and personally paying for lunch so Gavin could eat. We want to make sure that this doesn't happen, that a framework is created to ensure that hungry children are fed at school,” Clancy said.

Clancy also wants to raise awareness of the resources law enforcement can provide when social workers or schools suspect a child is being abused.

“(Another) thing I would like to work on is building trust between law enforcement, education and DCFS. And also (training on understanding) what constitutes criminal behavior,” Clancy said.

“When you have something as egregious as physical injury or a child digging through garbage to find something to eat, I believe the police can intervene and hopefully at least provide more resources to the people who are dealing with it,” Clancy continued.

Rep. Watkins, chair of the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel that oversees the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS), is also working on a bill that addresses Child Protective Services (CPS) and the handling of child abuse complaints.

“This is going to be a pretty complex bill,” Watkins said. “We're going to change a lot of things or add them to our process.”

Lawmaker demands answers from DCFS and proposes new bill to support

Inspired by the Franke/Hildebrandt case, Watkins wants to give social workers the ability to obtain a search warrant to enter a home and physically examine a child.

“What can we do to prevent this from happening again, especially since we've had one case before where we were lucky the children didn't die,” Watkins said.

And she wants more transparency and accountability when a complaint is reported to DCFS.

“When people contact DCFS, I want this to be reported to them,” Watkins said.

Under current DCFS policy, those who make a report can receive information about whether a case was accepted, meaning it was referred to CPS for investigation, or not accepted, meaning it did not meet the threshold for a CPS investigation. Specific details of the case or investigation are protected by child privacy laws.

Watkins also wants the bill to close loopholes that exist in the event that a student who may be a victim of abuse is expelled from school.

“This should be a warning sign that we need to continue to monitor the child at home,” Watkins said.

“We are looking at what we can do legally to make it clear to parents: 'You have the right to home school, but we also have the right to check on the child's well-being.'”

In both the Gavin case and the Franke/Hildebrandt case, the children were removed from school because of state homeschooling laws.

“I think we have long emphasized the right of parents to be able to raise their children. We think the pendulum needs to swing a little more to the middle to protect children's rights,” Watkins said. “It's not easy, but some (parents) are clearly getting off track, and that's hurting children.”

Watkins said the bill would also be influenced by the results of the DCFS investigation into the Gavin Peterson case.

DCFS investigation

The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is expected to brief the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel on Gavin Peterson's case during its annual fatality report hearing, specifically to investigate allegations that complaints filed on the 12-year-old's behalf went unanswered.

“I don't even know everything yet. DCFS is still doing a lot of research,” Watkins said.

Case-specific details will be provided during the closed portion of the hearing, but feedback that would require changes to state law will be provided at a public hearing afterward.

Watkins said the panel would release as much information as possible to the public.

“It won't remain a secret. We want people to know what happened,” Watkins said.

The hearing, originally scheduled for September, will now take place in October to allow more time for a thorough investigation.

“The Utah Department of Health and Human Services made this request to allow the DHHS Fatality Review Committee time to conduct a thorough review and ensure that complete information can be shared with the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel (CWLOP),” DCFS said in a statement.

Full statement from DCFS:

The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) made this request to allow the DHHS Fatality Review Committee time to conduct a thorough review and to ensure that complete information can be shared with the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel (CWLOP). Being able to provide a complete and thorough report to the CWLOP ensures that our time is productive and focused on complete information. Information shared during the CWLOP hearing includes any recommendations made by the DHHS Fatality Review Committee following the completion of a fatality review. The fatality review report and response will be presented to the CWLOP during the closed portion of this hearing.

The DHHS Death Review Committee is awaiting final information from other agencies within the system to conduct its review. Postponing the hearing will ensure that the Death Review Committee has time to obtain all of the information necessary to conduct a thorough and comprehensive review, write its report, and make recommendations to DCFS if necessary. This additional time will also allow the Death Review Committee to ensure the proper partners are participating, which will also allow for a more thorough and complete review.

DHHS is committed to providing complete and accurate information to our legislators. We appreciate the CWLOP's willingness to delay the hearing to ensure that the DHHS Fatality Review Committee can complete the fatality review.