Federal Lawsuit Filed Against RI Child Advocate to Obtain St. Mary’s Investigation Information
GoLocalProv News Team
Federal Lawsuit Filed Against RI Child Advocate to Obtain St. Mary’s Investigation Information
The State of Rhode Island’s Office of Child Advocate (OCA) in December had released its investigative report on the Department of Children Youth & Families (DCYF) and St. Mary’s, which is located in North Providence.
The scathing 392-page report detailed alleged abuse and neglect at the facility, with the investigation having been triggered by an overdose of a 17-year-old at the home in April 2023.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe OCA said that under Rhode Island General Law, its office “shall review [sic] complains of persons and investigate those where it appears that a child may be in need of assistance from the child advocate” — and said that in its report, “some names have been redacted to protect confidentiality.”
In its report, the OCA said it is “extremely concerned for the children and continuing to place children with significant mental health, substance use, and trauma issues into the mix of youth already placed at St. Mary’s.”
About Suit -- and Claims
According to the 15-page federal complaint filed by DRRI — which describes itself as the “designated state protection and advocacy system” for individuals with disabilities, “DDRI has the responsibility and authority to access records in the course of investigating allegations of abuse or neglect of individuals with disabilities.”
The lawsuit stems from what DRRI says has been its attempt to obtain unredacted portions of the report into St. Mary’s as completed by the Child Advocate which “substantiated allegations and [identified] violations of state law and DCYF policies and procedures.”
DRRI said it requested a copy of the report from the Child Advocate — without the names of youths, St. Mary’s Home for Children staff, and DCYF staff redacted — and was denied; DRRI said it was also denied the information when requested from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF).
According to DRRI, as the state’s designated protection and advocacy system, it has the “authority to investigate incidents of abuse and neglect of individuals with mental illness if the incidents are reported to the system or there is probable cause to believe the incidents occurred.”
“Any reports or documents generated during Defendant’s investigation of abuse and/or neglect at St. Mary’s Home for Children are considered records to which DRRI is entitled,” states DRRI in its complaint.
DRRI says that in order to access the records of youth with disabilities who might have been impacted — and who have “non-state guardians” — it is legally entitled to know the names of the juveniles in order to contact the guardians.
“Upon information and belief, some of the youth placed at St. Mary’s Home for Children and referenced in the investigating report are youth wit mental illness, and who have non-State guardians,” writes DRRI. “For such youth, DRRI is required to seek consent to access their records; in order to seek consent, DRRI must obtain the name and contact information of each of their guardians. And in order to obtain such information, DRRI must have the names of the individual youth.”
“By refusing DRRI’s written request for access to the non-redacted investigation records, Defendant has deprived DRRI of its statutory rights,” DRRI claims.
DRRI also states that some of the youth with disabilities referenced in the report are in the custody of DCYF with the state as their guardian; DRRI says it is entitled to those records “without consent of any party.”
DDRI is seeing relief by the court to “enter a declaratory judgment that Defendants refusal to provide the requested report” violates multiple laws, and is demanding that the OCA provided them with the unredacted material.