Agencies unite to fight child abuse; Summit's goal is to coordinate better response.

Byline: Lisa D. Welsh

WORCESTER - During Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.'s first month in office last year, the body of a newborn boy was discovered in the back of a garbage truck in Milford. Soon after, a young boy was reported scalded in a bathtub in Fitchburg.

"I didn't expect this. Child abuse of innocence defined," Mr. Early said yesterday at the Central Mass. Interagency Child Abuse Investigation Summit at the College of the Holy Cross. "These are the things that drive me crazy."

The district attorney's office holds supervisory and leadership roundtable meetings about child abuse every six weeks, but yesterday's daylong information sharing session was the first large-group effort of its kind in the state to include field operations professionals from his office, police, the state Department of Social Services and medical personnel.

"Today, everyone gets a chance to talk to get a better understanding of what the other agencies do and reaffirm what they can do better to protect the kids," Mr. Early said.

The four groups represent the core investigative components of what many consider "the system," but which are actually very individual services with separate agendas: Doctors are concerned with the health of the victim; DSS focuses on the safety of the child and siblings; police want the suspect locked up and off the street; and the district attorney's office wants to develop a case to put the suspect behind bars for the long term.

Although the fundamental goal - the child's welfare - is the same, the approach differs, many times resulting in conflicting or duplicated efforts.

"Isolated services result in secondary victimization, or worse, victims falling through the cracks," said Janet E. Fine, executive director of the Massachusetts office for victim assistance. "Coordinated investigations and services is the best way to prevent children from being victimized by the very system designed to protect them."

Mrs. Fine and other presenters told the group they needed to recognize that "turf wars" were the cause of many failures.

"Ten years ago, the DA's office issued a temporary restraining order against DSS," said Brendan Murray, deputy regional counselor for DSS. Some audience members chuckled, thinking Mr. Murray was making a joke, but he said it was true and underscored the danger of isolated operations.

Mr. Murray explained that after a report of serious physical injury of a child, DSS protocol required that a statement about the investigation was to be issued to the parent, who was also being investigated by the district attorney's office on unrelated issues. "There were legitimate concerns that the parent would destroy evidence or flee."

The experience helped establish cross-over protocols, but there's room for improvement.

"At our roundtable discussions, we saw that there were recurring themes," said Dr. Rebecca Moles, child abuse pediatrician of the child protection program at UMass Memorial Children's Medical Center. "So we decided to ask you. What's working? What's not working?"

As the only children's hospital in the state that has a full-time child abuse pediatrician on staff, UMass Memorial evaluates the majority of DSS' 687 reported cases each month.

Another pediatrician has been hired to begin in the fall, and several nurses on staff also participate in the evaluation process, which includes non-invasive, head-to-toe physical exams, collections of potential evidence, a discussion of investigative process with the victim's family and referrals for counseling services.

Appointments are made in advance, and the setting and process is similar to that in an outpatient clinic or doctor's office, which would be familiar to the child, rather than the emergency room visits in the middle of the night that used to be the norm for reports of child abuse.

Despite those efforts, Dr. Moles got her wish and learned "What's not working" in the bigger picture. When asked by an audience member if she knew what the average turnaround time was for one of her department's rape kits to return from the state's crime lab, she was very surprised to learn that it was six to eight months.

"Next time, we'll invite someone from the crime lab to attend," she responded.

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: At the Central Mass. Interagency Child Abuse Investigation Summit at the College of the Holy Cross yesterday were, from left, Gail Garinger, a child advocate; Dr. Rebecca Moles, child abuse pediatrician of the child protection program at UMass Memorial Children's Medical Center; Maura McCarthy, of the child abuse unit of the district attorney's office; Michelle Mainguy, of the state Department of Social Services; and Assistant District Attorney Anthony Marotta.

PHOTOG: T&G Staff/CHRISTINE PETERSON