Lawmakers Pushing For Child Welfare Oversight

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...State Representative Tom Burch and Senator Julie Denton, who co-chair the Interim Joint Committee on Health and Welfare, are pushing for a hearing to determine if the state agency that oversees child welfare is being transparent in how it reports deaths and near deaths of children. The issue has come to the forefront after a Franklin circuit judge recently ordered the release of records in the death of a 9 year old girl in Todd County who was beaten to death. In that case, Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phil Shepherd ruled that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which oversees child welfare, violated the state's Open Records Act because it did not turn over records requested by the Todd County Standard weekly newspaper. The opinion said the cabinet originally did not respond to the request and then denied having any records, which wasn't true. The judge also said the cabinet did not notify police of abuse reports, as required, and did not perform an internal review of the death as required.