DCF Defends Response To Report Of Foster Child Molested In Home
WBZ (CBS) - "I feel so hurt that this happened to her. She's a sweet little kid."
A Massachusetts foster parent is devastated. One of the foster children he and his wife have been caring for was molested in his home. She's only 6 years old.
No names or locations are mentioned in this story to protect the identity of the child.
The foster father told WBZ-TV they had been taking care of two sets of siblings for the last several months. Then, a day before Easter, one of the 13-year-old foster boys took the 6-year-old into a first floor room.
"He molested her. It was 5 o'clock in the afternoon, we were making dinner up here, the kids were downstairs and that's where he molested her."
While his wife took the girl to the hospital, he says he called the Department of Children and Families (DCF) hotline and was appalled by what he claims was their lack of response.
"This is a DCF phone that you're supposed to get help on in emergency situations. Nothing happened. I called back again, they said, 'We'll get a supervisor. They'll give you a call within the hour. Nothing. At this point, I called the police."
But the department says they received a report from the foster home on Saturday, and social workers responded to the situation that evening. They released a statement saying: "Whenever a report is made to DCF, our first priority is to take necessary action to ensure the safety of the children involved."
"We finally got a call from DCF Monday morning and the call was, 'Gee we're sorry to hear about this. Can we have the 13-year-old's clothes? And that's it. That was the only contact we got," the father said.
The district attorney's office is investigating the incident.