Eight-year-old Thomas Valva’s death followed repeated complaints made to Child Protective Services by Thomas’ teachers and staff at East Moriches Elementary School over the course of almost two years. After Michael Valva’s and Angela Pollina’s trials concluded, I promised that my office would investigate the conduct and practices of the Child Protective Services Division of Suffolk County’s Department of Social Services. A Special Grand Jury was empaneled and heard from dozens of witnesses over the course of six months. I thank the Grand Jurors for listening to sometimes heart-breaking testimony. Unfortunately, the Grand Jury’s investigation was stymied by current New York State law which allows CPS supervisors and bosses to suppress repeated reports of abuse that they deem to be ‘UNFOUNDED.’ The statute allows these materials to be hidden from public scrutiny, law enforcement, and even from a Grand Jury investigating the death of a child. This backwards law must be changed. The system we currently have to protect our children is a recipe for disaster. It is unconscionable that even in a case such as this, no one, not even a District Attorney, Superior Court Judge, or state advisory board can obtain prior reports that CPS has arbitrarily and erroneously deemed ‘UNFOUNDED.’ The 75-page Grand Jury Report released today highlights the systematic failures of the current Child Protective Services system and recommends local, as well as state-wide, common-sense changes to ensure that incompetence and apathy are not protected, and a tragedy like the death of Thomas Valva does not happen again.
Eng
