“Areas of risk” identified in an audit of a state child welfare agency

An audit by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) found that the agency failed to adequately screen people working in preschools and residential settings and also compromised “high-risk” abuse and neglect investigations.

The audit was released Monday afternoon by the Office of State Auditor Diana DiZoglio. DiZoglio said it was originally launched by her predecessor Suzanne Bump and covered the period from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022.

Bump conducted a previous EEC audit that revealed similar findings.

“Our audit team identified several areas of risk related to child abuse and neglect issues,” DiZoglio told investigative reporter Ted Daniel in an interview Monday.

The 54-page audit report includes nine areas where EEC was found to be deficient, ranging from the frequency of licensing visits to residential programs to EEC’s failure to update its language access plan every two years.

The audit examined background checks at 5,700 home or family child care programs and found, based on a statistical sample, that “23% failed to complete required background checks.”

A sample of residential programs found that 98% of residential programs had at least one or more “missing elements” on a background check.

“We discovered significant problems in this area and discovered that Early Education and Care was not actually conducting background checks in accordance with applicable rules and regulations,” DiZoglio said.

The audit found two cases in which the EEC failed to review reports or initiate investigations into suspected child abuse and neglect in the care programs it oversees.

“The EEC cannot determine whether children are at risk of abuse or neglect, or ensure that reported incidents are investigated, unless it examines all 51A reports,” the audit report said.

The audit includes the EEC’s response. An EEC official wrote: “In the two cases identified by the Auditor, EEC licensors have reviewed 51A reports, the programs have completed internal investigations, the EEC has reviewed those internal investigations, and the EEC has ensured that the programs have taken appropriate measures to mitigate health concerns and release-level security.”

The audit examined how the EEC conducted investigations into 94 “high risk complaint” investigations and found that the EEC allowed licensing staff to conduct some investigations that should have been investigated by EEC investigators.

“Specifically, 9 (10%) of the 94 high-risk complaint investigations were conducted by the EEC licensor rather than the EEC inspector,” the audit report stated.

“It is really important that the EEC addresses these matters urgently. That is why we will return to Early Education and Care in a matter of months, not years, to ensure that they have implemented our recommendations from the audits,” DiZoglio said.

This was reported by 25 Investigates in May As of 2020, 500 home day care providers with open or closed criminal cases have passed EWG background checksaccording to data obtained on the basis of a public registration request. The request was concerned with the number of “discretionary” background check authorizations granted to licensed providers with criminal histories in 2 of the 5 EEC-overseen regions statewide. The Northeast and Greater Boston regions cover most of eastern Massachusetts but do not include Cape Cod.

An EEC spokesman said at the time that federal law gives states the ability to determine whether a person can provide care for and be liable for children for charges that go beyond mandatory disqualifications.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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