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Baker Says Investigation Into Death Of Auburn Foster Child Is 'All Hands On Deck'

Gov. Charlie Baker speaks during a press conference Monday on the death of a 2-year-old foster child. He's joined by, from left to right, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders, and Secretary of Public Safety and Security Daniel Bennett. (State House News Service)
Gov. Charlie Baker speaks during a press conference Monday on the death of a 2-year-old foster child. He's joined by, from left to right, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders, and Secretary of Public Safety and Security Daniel Bennett. (State House News Service)

Gov. Charlie Baker says it's "all hands on deck" with respect to finding out what happened to the Massachusetts foster child who died over the weekend.

A 2-year-old girl was found unresponsive Saturday at a state-licensed foster home in Auburn. Another foster child living in the home, a 22-month-old girl, was also found unresponsive. She's now in critical condition.

“It will be all hands on deck until that report is done, and the findings and recommendations can be made available,” Baker said during a press conference Monday afternoon, promising full police and internal investigations to determine what happened to the two children.

Public Safety Secretary Daniel Bennett said the autopsy on the 2-year-old has been completed, but he said investigators have come to "no conclusions of any kind" in the ongoing probe.

Officials say Department of Children and Families workers visited the home on Wednesday as part of a regularly scheduled foster home visit and that there were no signs of any trouble.

District Attorney Joseph Early called the situation “a very difficult case.” A police chief said that officials were “very familiar” with the mother, but Early told reporters there was no initial sign of abuse and no one has been taken into custody. He added that the mother has been cooperating with authorities.

A third foster child living in the home, a 6-month-old girl, was hospitalized “as a precaution only,” the DCF said Monday. Three biological children of the mother were also removed from the home, pending results of the investigation.

The foster home was licensed with the state in 2014, and six other foster children have previously lived in the home since then. The foster mother was the only adult listed with DCF as living in the house, according to the administration.

With reporting by WBUR Newsroom, State House News Service and the Associated Press.

This article was originally published on August 17, 2015.

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