DCF Report Raises Questions Over Auditing Protocol

An audit of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families released last week is raising questions over incidents of abuse and neglect.

State Auditor Suzanne Bump found that children under the care of DCF suffered at least 260 serious injuries in 2014 and 2015 that were not included in DCF records. The auditor also found at least 19 instances of serious abuse or neglect that were not reported to district attorneys.

In a letter written in response to the audit, Gov. Charlie Baker cited the report's claims as "irresponsible." He said he was "dismayed" to see the auditor use old data and wrote, "to ignore nearly everything you have done for the past two and a half years to improve the agency's ability to do its work strikes me as wrong."

Bump says she stands by the findings, saying it was an effort to highlight "systematic flaws" in DCF.

Peter MacKinnon, president of SEIU Local 509, the Massachusetts union for human service workers and educators. He tweets @509pmackinnon.