Early 2005 |
NCYL begins investigating complaints about Clark County’s child protective services and foster care system. NCYL focuses on child abuse deaths of children in shelter/foster care and deaths of children known to the Clark County Division of Family Services (DFS) at time of death. |
Mar. 23, 2005 |
NCYL meets with Clark County DFS officials to discuss overcrowding and other deficiencies at Child Haven, a Las Vegas shelter for children. |
April 4, 2005 |
Three-month old Josiah Spurgeon dies after being immersed in scalding water in a Las Vegas shelter home. |
April 26, 2005 |
Clark County Coroner rules death of 11-year-old Ariel Botzet a homicide due to mother’s medical neglect of child’s diabetic condition. Clark County DFS had investigated possible neglect of Ariel twice but “found nothing wrong.” |
May 31, 2005 |
NCYL accuses Clark County of being out of compliance with the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) by refusing to disclose information about children who have died from abuse or neglect. |
May 2005 |
Clark County hires the Georgia-based Child Welfare Institute, a private consulting company that provides consultation and support to child welfare agencies, to review 11 child fatalities that occurred in 2004 and early 2005. |
June 30, 2005 |
Two-year old Adacelli Snyder is found starved to death in trailer park home of mother. She weighed only 11 pounds and was covered with insect bites and open sores. The child had cerebral palsy. Family had history of DFS involvement. Mother and boyfriend charged with murder. |
June 2005 |
Child Welfare Institute report completed. The report does not provide any information about individual child death cases, but does note that DFS does not document critical case actions and decisions. |
July 3, 2005 |
NCYL and the non-profit Children’s Advocacy Alliance formally notify Clark County that it is in violation of CAPTA by refusing to disclose information about children who died from child abuse or neglect, including information about child protective services involvement with the family or child prior to the death. NCYL sends Public Records Act request to Clark County DFS Director Susan Klein-Rothschild requesting death records for all children who died from abuse or neglect from 2001-2005. |
Aug. 1, 2005 |
The US Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) Regional Office requests information concerning child deaths in Clark County and directs the state to prepare corrective action plan |
Aug. 18, 2005 |
NCYL and Children’s Advocacy Alliance meet with DFS officials, Clark County District Attorney’s office, and Office of Attorney General. Clark County provides list of seven children who died in foster care between October 2004 and June 2005. Information about each child is limited to the child’s name, date of birth and death, and location at time of death. Clark County refuses to produce any other information on deaths of children in foster care and claims it cannot identify children with open or closed cases who remained at home and who died from abuse or neglect. |
Aug.26, 2005 |
Nevada’s state Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHS), Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) submits corrective action plan to federal HHS and requests assistance in bringing Nevada into compliance with CAPTA. |
Sept. 1, 2005 |
Further meeting between DCFS state officials and NCYL to discuss release of information on child abuse deaths. Clark County officials refuse to attend. |
Sept. 13, 2005 |
Las Vegas Sun files suit against Clark County DFS to gain access to their records for family of 2-year-old Adacelli Snyder, who dies of starvation in June. |
Sept. 16, 2005 |
Clark County District Court Judge Stewart Bell denies request of Las Vegas Sun for access to records of Adacelli Snyder. Judge Bell advises newspaper to take up issue with legislature. |
Sept. 30, 2005 |
NCYL sends Public Records Act request for information about Clark County child protective services policies and data on children at Child Haven. |
Oct. 17, 2005 |
Federal HHS notifies the state of the types of information CAPTA requires be disclosed about child deaths from abuse, and said that the scope of information is much broader than that provided by Clark County. |
Dec. 1, 2005 |
Nevada DCFS releases preliminary analysis of child fatalities in Clark County from 2001 to 2004. State DHHS Director Mike Willden announces he will convene a panel of experts to review 79 cases in which child abuse may erroneously have been ruled out as cause of death. (See “State Findings on Clark County Child Deaths” for further details.) |
Jan. 9, 2006 |
NCYL notified by Clark County DFS that they will provide some documents in response to September 30, 2005 Public Records Act request. |
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