Child advocate calls for improved DCF procedures after Salem baby died of poisoning

The state’s child advocate released a letter Thursday calling on the Department of Children and Families to be more transparent in how it reports to the public about internal reviews and improvements.

Sarah Eagan, the child advocate, focused on several incidents of child fatalities and near fatalities, including the death of “Kaylee S.,” a 1-yearold who died Feb. 8, 2022, of fentanyl and xylazine poisoning.

In December, Travis Schubel of Salem, Kaylee’s father, was charged with second-degree reckless manslaughter, risk of injury to a child, possession of a controlled substance and use of drug paraphernalia in connection with Kaylee’s death. He has pleaded not guilty in the case, and is being held in lieu of $3,3 million bail, records show.

DCF had opened a case in August 2021 because of reported concerns of physical neglect, according to Eagan’s letter. Kaylee’s mother also lived in the home.

“Multiple critical incident reviews from 2021 to the present, including the death of Kaylee S. … raised concerns for [the Office of the Child Advocate] regarding the lack of consistency in DCF’s assessment and management of family risk and child safety concerns, including timely connection of caregivers to appropriate services,” Eagan wrote.

“Given these observations, OCA requested information from DCF regarding its case reviews and the quality assurance measures it has in place to assess and improve the agency’s ‘safety practice.’”

In response, DCF Deputy Commissioner Michael Williams criticized the timing of the letter, coming a year after Kaylee’s death, and said it would not be useful to his department.

Eagan acknowledged steps DCF has taken “to clarify and strengthen practice expectations for staff, including distribution of memos and trainings on Safety Planning and fentanyl.”