‘Shrouded in secrecy’
On the child welfare front, Snyder’s case is under scrutiny because Berks County Children and Youth had previously been involved with the family. Authorities have not detailed the circumstances that led a judge in 2014 to temporarily remove Conner and an older brother from Snyder’s custody. Within months, the boys were returned to their mother’s care, and the child protection case was closed in November 2015 — three months after Brinley was born — ending caseworkers’ supervision of the family.
Cathleen Palm, founder of the Center for Children’s Justice, a nonprofit advocacy group in Berks County, said Pennsylvania needs to be more forthcoming when children die.
“This case is just a reminder again that so much of what happens in our child protection is so shrouded in secrecy that it is hard to say, ‘This was the best route forward for the family, or this was not the best route,’” Palm said.
She added: “Let’s have the conversation. Let’s figure out what the system’s involvement was for these kids and get better about it.”
On Monday, when Berks County District Attorney John Adams announced the arrest of Snyder, he detailed allegations that she searched the internet for information on “hanging yourself” and perused true crime television shows about getting away with murder. The complaint unveiled by prosecutors was lurid: In the days leading up to her children’s deaths, Snyder allegedly sent an unnamed man photos of herself having sex with her pet dog, even as she complained in other texts about her children.
“Sorry … Kid problems,” Snyder wrote in a Sept. 15 message, according to the arrest affidavit. A minute later, she added: “Major kid problems.”
Adams has defended Children and Youth, saying the police investigation of Snyder didn’t reveal any mistakes on the agency’s part when it was involved with the family five years ago. It is personal for Adams, who grew up at Bethany Children’s Home outside of Womelsdorf, where his father, the late Rev. Garnet Adams, served as superintendent of the facility, which helps children in need.
Adams said the child welfare system is underfunded and caseworkers overburdened. He said he understands there will be “a lot of second guessing” in Snyder’s case.
“We can take every precaution in the world, and I don’t know that it’s going to stop every tragedy like this,” Adams said. “Should this family have continued to be monitored? I think that’s a question we are going to continue to ask ourselves for years, and I don’t have the answer to that.”
Berks County Children and Youth Services Director Krista McIlhaney did not return a call seeking comment on Thursday.
Erin James, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services, noted the law mandates an investigation by the state and county whenever a minor dies or nearly dies while passing through child protective services. Those reviews, which are eventually made public in a redacted form, help ensure the system is working, she said.
“We at the Department of the Human Services are heartbroken over the tragic loss of Conner and Brinley Snyder,” James said in a prepared statement. “The [Gov. Tom] Wolf Administration and Department of Human Services remain committed to protecting all children from abuse and mistreatment and will review this case, as we do all child fatalities and near-fatalities, to identify opportunities to inform practices moving forward.”