SALT LAKE CITY — A small but growing number of parents are going to “extreme lengths to hide abuse and neglect” of their children, according to Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services.
Sometimes that means pulling their kids out of school, effectively “isolating children from the community.” Other times, parents will ignore the doorbell and send phone calls to voicemail when caseworkers come calling.
As a number of recent high-profile cases of child abuse have put a spotlight on the agency, Tonya Myrup, the director of DCFS, said it is reviewing these types of cases and exploring possible improvements to its systems for addressing them.
“It is something that we are taking a very close look at,” she said in a recent interview with FOX 13 News. “If you don’t have eyes on those kids, it makes it really hard for the community – for DCFS – to assess what’s happening and be able to intervene.”
Kevin Franke, whose children were abused in a case that made national headlines, is among those calling for changes to the system, arguing that it’s too easy for “uncooperative parents” to avoid caseworkers investigating allegations of child maltreatment.
“We have no legislative counter to the uncooperative parent,” he said in an interview. “If a parent doesn’t want to answer the phone, if a parent doesn’t want to answer the door, then authorities currently have both hands tied behind their backs. Even if they know things are going on behind those doors, they don’t have the authority to get in there and to see.”
To better protect children in these situations, Franke is advocating for state lawmakers to consider implementing “red flag” laws for child abuse during the upcoming state legislative session.
That’s a term usually used to refer to laws allowing a court to temporarily take away someone’s firearms when that person is deemed a threat to themselves or others. But in the case of child abuse, Franke says a “red flag” law would allow caseworkers to act when they can’t get in touch with a parent but have heard complaints of abuse from multiple people in a child’s life.
“Whether it’s a neighbor, whether it’s a teacher, whether it’s an ecclesiastical leader or an extended family member – those individuals who truly know that child – [if] you get multiple reports coming from these individuals saying, ‘I’ve seen this, I’ve heard this, I’m suspicious of this,’ those should be sufficient for authorities to immediately act and get in there and get their eyes on the child,” he argues.
DCFS data shows a few hundred cases are closed each year because caseworkers are not able to complete a face-to-face interview with an alleged victim of child abuse.
These types of cases are among the “most difficult that DCFS sees” Myrup told a state panel this summer.
And while caseworkers will often “go to extreme efforts in attempts to try to reach the family," she said at that meeting that there are times when “we may just not have enough to legally intervene any further.”
But as DCFS weighs new tactics for dealing with uncooperative parents, Myrup told FOX 13 News that the challenge is ensuring that it strikes the right balance between protecting children and not overreaching into the lives of families when it isn’t necessary.
“DCFS involvement can be scary,” she said. “It can be stigmatizing. And so we’re wanting to make sure that what we do in response to some of those cases – and making sure we have the right assessment, have the right information – that we’re not also over-intervening in families who don’t need that.”
Franke said he’s sympathetic to those who may be critical of his calls for “red flag” laws.
“I understand these people’s concerns of saying, ‘Look, legislation that makes it easier for these caseworkers to enter my home, to interfere in my family and my parenting, no way. You know, we won’t support that,’” he said.
But he believes recent examples of child abuse in the state show the need for stronger checks against parents who aren’t keeping their children safe.
“My wife and Jodi Hildebrant thought they had – at least they were telling themselves they had – the children’s best interests at heart,” he said, referring to the life coach who was sentenced alongside his wife for child abuse charges. “But they were severely mentally and spiritually ill. And as a result, they were twisted. And they were causing tremendous harm to my children.”
If you suspect neglect or abuse of a child in Utah, you can call DCFS’s 24/7 intake hotline at 1-855-323-3237 (1-855-323-DCFS).