Child Welfare Advocate 'Incredulous' At Handling Of Missing Boy Case

The state Department of Children & Families is acknowledging a department social worker last saw a 5-year-old Fitchburg boy now missing and feared dead in May.

His mother and her boyfriend are charged with assaulting and endangering the child. DCF on Tuesday fired the social worker and supervisor assigned to investigate the alleged abuse of Jeremiah Oliver and his siblings, calling their handling of the case a "serious failure."

For more on the case, WBUR's Deborah Becker spoke with Maria Mossaides. She's executive director of Cambridge Family and Children's Service and chairman of the board of Children's League of Massachusetts, an advocacy organization of which DCF is a member.

Mossaides has no direct knowledge of the Oliver case but says the lapse in time since social workers last checked on the boy is distressing.