Gov. Minner Orders “Safety First” For Vulnerable Children In Delaware
Dover – Governor Ruth Ann Minner on Friday ordered the state agency charged with protecting children in Delaware to make child safety their main mission. She also appointed new members to the Child Protection Accountability Commission, including a new chair.
Under Executive Order No. 7, Gov. Minner directed the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families to make safety of the child their primary concern in handling cases where a child has been abused or neglected.
“Efforts to preserve the family of a child who has been abused or neglected should only be taken when the state has received reasonable, credible assurance that the child won’t be abused or neglected again if the child is returned home,” Gov. Minner said. “In short, our policy will be child safety first.”
“The front-line workers who deal with our abused and neglected children have said they want a clear message as to how the state wants them to deal with the painful decision of whether to separate a child from the child’s family,” Gov. Minner said. “Now they have it.”
Secretary of DSCYF Cari DeSantis embraced the directive from the Governor.
“Every employee of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families recognizes that child safety is their number one concern in everything they do,” Secretary DeSantis said. “From the caseworkers on the front line to their administrative supervisors to myself, child safety is the focus, and is considered with every contact we make, every visit we schedule, and every program we develop.”
Gov. Minner Friday also made new appointments to the Child Protection Accountability Commission, which coordinates and oversees child protection efforts in the state.
Chairing this commission will be Lynne Howard. Howard is currently the chief of staff for Wilmington City Council President Ted Blunt, but prior to that, served as Governor Carper’s adviser on family and children’s issues.
Other new appointments to the commission are:
§ John Humphrey, director of the Childrens Advocacy Center, which conducts forensic interviews of children in abuse and neglect cases
§ Judge Peggy Ableman, who has chaired two prominent panels that investigated the deaths of children who had been in state care
Reappointed to the commission are:
§ Janice Mink, co-founder of Grassroots Citizens for Children
§ Dr. Allen Dejong, A.I. Dupont Hospital for Children
§ Col. John Cunningham, New Castle County Police Department
§ Col. Gerry Pepper, superintendent of the Delaware State Police
“I have made my policy clear, and I have brought in some very talented, very committed people to help carry out that mission,” Gov. Minner said.
