Health News
- Six Of 41 Child-abuse Fatalities Show Improper Follow-up By Cabinet For Health And Family Services, Herald-leader Analysis Finds
The way child-abuse deaths are reviewed in Kentucky continues to be problematic. Looking at the 41 child fatalities in 2009 and 2010, Lexington Herald-Leader reporters Beth Musgrave and Bill Estep found at least six cases in which the Cabinet for...
- Beshear To Have Outside Panel Review Cases Of Children Killed Or Life-threatened By Abuse
An independent panel of experts will review cases of children who have been killed or severely hurt by child abuse or neglect, Gov. Steve Beshear announced Monday. The panel will have 17 members and be based in the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet....
- Judge Rails Against State's Handling Of Child-abuse Records, Beshear's Defense Of Cabinet
The judge who handled the case of 9-year-old Amy Dye, who was beaten to death last year by her adoptive brother, sent an op-ed piece to several newspapers criticizing Gov. Steve Beshear's move to back the Cabinet for Health and Family Services in...
- Lawmakers Grill State Officials At Hearing On Child Abuse And Records Of It; One Says Health Secretary Should Resign
Janie Miller, secretary for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, should resign, said one key legislator at a committee hearing yesterday. The frustration of Sen. Julie Denton (Lexington Herald-Leader photo) stemmed in part from the manner in which...
- 18 Kentucky Children Died From Child Abuse Or Neglect Last Year, Down From 33 In 2009, But Report Is Incomplete, Critics Say
A report by the the Cabinet for Health and Family Services shows 18 Kentucky children died from abuse or neglect in the past fiscal year, down from 33 the year before. Ten were part of families that had been involved with state social service officers,...
Health News
Legislators to discuss child abuse report Monday; chilling stories emerging about abuse trends
After a wave of stories pertaining to child abuse records made front-page news this week, the Interim Joint Health and Welfare Committee will meet Monday to discuss the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' recently released report on child-abuse fatalities and near-fatalities.
The meeting will be held at 1 p.m. in room 129 of the Capitol Annex. Click here to see live video streaming of the meeting provided by KET.
This year's report was released earlier this month and showed 18 Kentucky children died from child abuse or neglect in the past year, down from 33 in 2009. But critics say the report is incomplete, just 15 pages long compared to the 29-page report last year. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, called the report "a failure," saying it made it difficult to compare findings from past years. It was also three months late in being released.
On Monday, the cabinet released 86 internal reviews of cases in which children had either been killed or nearly killed from abuse, though in many instances did not release the names of the children who were affected. The records were handed over by the cabinet after years of litigation and two weeks after Gov. Steve Beshear ordered the release.
The documents show there is a lack of protocol in handling the case reviews, the Lexington Herald-Leader's Bill Estep and Beth Musgrave reported.
Another Herald-Leader analysis that ran in today's edition showed more communication is needed between doctors and social workers. Reporter Valarie Honeycutt Spears cited one instance in which a 22-month old girl came to the University of Kentucky Medical Center with hair loss and an ulcer in her mouth.
"While at the hospital, the toddler developed bruises, and she cried when her mother came into the room," she reports. On Feb. 19, the girl died, with an autopsy showing she had broken bones, multiple bruises, a detached aorta, and a laceration to the liver. Her hair had also been pulled so hard she had a large hematoma on the top of her head.
In their review, cabinet officials determined UK did not report its concerns because there had been no history of abuse. "This has already been addressed with UK, and their policies have changed as a result of this incident," the report reads.
The toddler's case is one of 14 that involved children who had died or nearly died in 2009 and 2010 "that cited a need for better communication between medical professionals and child-protection workers," Spears reports. (Read more)
- Six Of 41 Child-abuse Fatalities Show Improper Follow-up By Cabinet For Health And Family Services, Herald-leader Analysis Finds
The way child-abuse deaths are reviewed in Kentucky continues to be problematic. Looking at the 41 child fatalities in 2009 and 2010, Lexington Herald-Leader reporters Beth Musgrave and Bill Estep found at least six cases in which the Cabinet for...
- Beshear To Have Outside Panel Review Cases Of Children Killed Or Life-threatened By Abuse
An independent panel of experts will review cases of children who have been killed or severely hurt by child abuse or neglect, Gov. Steve Beshear announced Monday. The panel will have 17 members and be based in the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet....
- Judge Rails Against State's Handling Of Child-abuse Records, Beshear's Defense Of Cabinet
The judge who handled the case of 9-year-old Amy Dye, who was beaten to death last year by her adoptive brother, sent an op-ed piece to several newspapers criticizing Gov. Steve Beshear's move to back the Cabinet for Health and Family Services in...
- Lawmakers Grill State Officials At Hearing On Child Abuse And Records Of It; One Says Health Secretary Should Resign
Janie Miller, secretary for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, should resign, said one key legislator at a committee hearing yesterday. The frustration of Sen. Julie Denton (Lexington Herald-Leader photo) stemmed in part from the manner in which...
- 18 Kentucky Children Died From Child Abuse Or Neglect Last Year, Down From 33 In 2009, But Report Is Incomplete, Critics Say
A report by the the Cabinet for Health and Family Services shows 18 Kentucky children died from abuse or neglect in the past fiscal year, down from 33 the year before. Ten were part of families that had been involved with state social service officers,...