INDIANAPOLIS — The head of a state team investigating child deaths resigned last week because she said issues within the Department of Child Services made it impossible to do her job.
The Indianapolis Star reported Saturday that forensic pediatrician and IU School of Medicine professor Antoinette Laskey submitted a letter of resignation to Gov. Mitch Daniels, dated last Tuesday. Laskey had been in the unpaid job since 2004.
In the letter, she is especially critical of the state's new legislation -- awaiting Daniels’ approval -- to set up centralized locations for abuse investigations and a recent report that touted just 25 child deaths in Indiana in 2010.
"The recent publicity of 'record low deaths' counted as child abuse or neglect fails to recognize the fact that hundreds of children died preventable deaths in our state," Laskey wrote in her letter to Daniels.
"There is no success story in being able to re-categorize them as not the responsibility of the Department of Child Services."
Daniels' press secretary Jane Jankowski said she wasn't aware whether the governor had seen the letter as of Saturday and had no comment.
DCS Director James Payne said the letter's tone surprised him.
"My only comment is perhaps it is a good time for her to leave," he told the Star. "She has been in that position for a number of years, and maybe this is a good opportunity for a fresh look at things, particularly with the new child fatality legislation."
‘No communication’?
But in the letter, Laskey referred to a discussion with the DCS director about similar legislation proposed last year.
“During the previous legislative session, I discussed my concerns with Director Payne specifically that regional teams have not been shown to be effective nationally, even in counties that have very few child deaths,” she wrote. “Further, I strongly expressed my concern about his involvement in choosing members of all regional teams.”
Payne said the new system will bring order to what he believes is a disorganized, irregular process.
"She helped create the language (for the legislation) when we first proposed it last year," Payne told the Associated Press. "I hadn't heard anything more about it and I thought it was acceptable. This was the first I heard she didn't like it. There was no communication."
Laskey declined to comment further on her resignation.
But in an interview with The Tribune in December, the child abuse expert described what she sees as an ill-advised celebration of fewer children’s deaths from neglect and abuse.
“It’s so surprising to hear that child abuse is getting better, because none of us is seeing that clinically,” she said then. “We’re seeing more cases that are worse.”
The national numbers are often statistics based only on what child-protection agencies substantiate as being caused by abuse and neglect, said Laskey, who is regarded as an expert in diagnosing abuse and neglect cases.
While at the helm, she tried to broaden the state's child death review process but found little support in the governor's office or the legislature. Her investigative team received no state money.
‘What we don’t look for’
Teri Covington, director of the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths, said Laskey is considered a national expert. Covington added that Indiana is one of the few states that investigates only abuse and neglect rather than a full range of deaths, including preventable ones.
"That's where Indiana really falls behind," Covington said.
Dr. Roland M. Kohr, a forensic pathologist and Vigo County coroner, has served on the state team since 2004. He said he fears that the new, essentially DCS-controlled approach to fatality review could lead to misleading statistics.
"To say the latest statistics show a great improvement is not being honest," Kohr said. "It may do some good politically, but it doesn't do any service to the children of Indiana."
“Sometimes people don’t want to know about it until it’s relevant to them,” Laskey told The Tribune in December. “Sometimes we don’t see what we don’t look for.”
The Indianapolis Star reported Saturday that forensic pediatrician and IU School of Medicine professor Antoinette Laskey submitted a letter of resignation to Gov. Mitch Daniels, dated last Tuesday. Laskey had been in the unpaid job since 2004.
In the letter, she is especially critical of the state's new legislation -- awaiting Daniels’ approval -- to set up centralized locations for abuse investigations and a recent report that touted just 25 child deaths in Indiana in 2010.
"The recent publicity of 'record low deaths' counted as child abuse or neglect fails to recognize the fact that hundreds of children died preventable deaths in our state," Laskey wrote in her letter to Daniels.
"There is no success story in being able to re-categorize them as not the responsibility of the Department of Child Services."
Daniels' press secretary Jane Jankowski said she wasn't aware whether the governor had seen the letter as of Saturday and had no comment.
DCS Director James Payne said the letter's tone surprised him.
"My only comment is perhaps it is a good time for her to leave," he told the Star. "She has been in that position for a number of years, and maybe this is a good opportunity for a fresh look at things, particularly with the new child fatality legislation."
‘No communication’?
But in the letter, Laskey referred to a discussion with the DCS director about similar legislation proposed last year.
“During the previous legislative session, I discussed my concerns with Director Payne specifically that regional teams have not been shown to be effective nationally, even in counties that have very few child deaths,” she wrote. “Further, I strongly expressed my concern about his involvement in choosing members of all regional teams.”
Payne said the new system will bring order to what he believes is a disorganized, irregular process.
"She helped create the language (for the legislation) when we first proposed it last year," Payne told the Associated Press. "I hadn't heard anything more about it and I thought it was acceptable. This was the first I heard she didn't like it. There was no communication."
Laskey declined to comment further on her resignation.
But in an interview with The Tribune in December, the child abuse expert described what she sees as an ill-advised celebration of fewer children’s deaths from neglect and abuse.
“It’s so surprising to hear that child abuse is getting better, because none of us is seeing that clinically,” she said then. “We’re seeing more cases that are worse.”
The national numbers are often statistics based only on what child-protection agencies substantiate as being caused by abuse and neglect, said Laskey, who is regarded as an expert in diagnosing abuse and neglect cases.
While at the helm, she tried to broaden the state's child death review process but found little support in the governor's office or the legislature. Her investigative team received no state money.
‘What we don’t look for’
Teri Covington, director of the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths, said Laskey is considered a national expert. Covington added that Indiana is one of the few states that investigates only abuse and neglect rather than a full range of deaths, including preventable ones.
"That's where Indiana really falls behind," Covington said.
Dr. Roland M. Kohr, a forensic pathologist and Vigo County coroner, has served on the state team since 2004. He said he fears that the new, essentially DCS-controlled approach to fatality review could lead to misleading statistics.
"To say the latest statistics show a great improvement is not being honest," Kohr said. "It may do some good politically, but it doesn't do any service to the children of Indiana."
“Sometimes people don’t want to know about it until it’s relevant to them,” Laskey told The Tribune in December. “Sometimes we don’t see what we don’t look for.”
