These children in New York were killed by their parents: they could have been saved, but the protection system malfunctioned

Doctors never examined the cuts and bruises of 4-year-old Jace Eubanks. Child welfare workers did not warn police about 7-year-old Julissia Bettis's black eye. Investigators closed the case of Aisin Emerson-Gonzalez despite a swollen eye and a bump on his head, reports New York Times.

All three children were beaten to death at home in the final weeks of this summer. The number of murders of children in the city this year is close to the figures of recent years. However, the series of murders exposed gaps in the child welfare system. A wrong decision by a social worker can mean the death of a child.

Eisin's death

Several children died even after their cases were transferred to the city's Rapid Response Team. It is a task force whose stated mission is to protect children from abuse. It "ensures the collection of evidence in a timely, efficient and coordinated manner." The medical examiner said that the bodies of three children, including Aisin and Jace, had both old and recent injuries.

“I ask for answers,” Aisin's grandmother Gilda Emerson-Celestine said at the end of September at a funeral home in Brooklyn. There, 4-year-old Eisin was lying in a white jacket with a toy truck mounted at his head.

In March, Aisin, who lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, told investigators that he was injured in a fall at a school. The school said that he did not fall. His case was dropped after a doctor said the injuries were related to an accident, police said.

Police ignored complaints

A neighbor said that four days before Julicia's death, she told authorities that the child had told her that her mother had given her a black eye.

In Harlem last March, an emergency caller reported hearing screams and the sounds of a fight involving a child. But the police never came to the house where 10-year-old Aiden Wolfe lived until it was too late.

In response to questions from The New York Times about the errors, the City said last week that it would make a number of changes. They added that they will be more closely monitoring families that have been the subject of reports of alleged abuse. This will improve coordination between the police and the city's child protection agency.

The changes include three main points.

1. Appointment of a captain to supervise child abuse cases in the special police department for victims. This is in fact the restoration of a post that was abolished a year ago.
2. Requiring the police to visit a child's home in cases of suspected abuse and a family member with a history of domestic violence.
3. The resumption of the cross-training program between the Police Department and the city's child protection agency, which the city stopped during the pandemic.

Children's Commissioner David A. Hansell said the changes "will improve agency alignment with NYPD's ability to investigate the most serious cases of abuse" and "will strengthen the ability to protect children and meet the needs of their families."

1000 cases per week

New York City Child Welfare Social Workers receive over 1000 reports of child abuse and neglect each week. The reasons for complaints are very different - from dirty clothes and chronic skipping meals to a broken arm. Child abuse experts say death is often preceded by an increase in violence. But it is easier to look back and see how the tragedy could have been avoided than to predict exactly when the mortal danger lies in wait for the child.

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The Child Protection Agency, which has stepped up efforts in recent years to keep families rather than foster families, is under competing pressure. It spends a significant portion of its limited resources investigating reports of abuse.

The former partners of the child's parent often file complaints. Very often, such complaints are trivial revenge and slander and can lead to unjustified isolation of the child from the parent. But if the agency downplays the importance of reporting abuse, there is a risk of putting the child in danger.

Child Protection officials supported the Rapid Response Teams, which were expanded in 2017 with the addition of a coordinator, case managers and prosecutors.

“The problem is that these cases are complex,” said Susan Morley, the child welfare officer who oversees the groups. She added that children are often injured from simple accidents, and a bruise from a blow looks just like a bruise from an accidental fall.

Officials have acknowledged the paradox underlying some of the cases. Their decision to send a toddler for a physical is often based on how severe the childhood injuries are. But some injuries, such as cerebral haemorrhage or soft tissue injury, may not be visible.

Few resources

Agency officials also noted that medical examinations usually require the consent of the guardian. While one judge can order a mandatory check-up, they said, many other judges will not do so unless the child has visible serious injuries.

The city's changes do not include any increase in child abuse police force. There are about 75 detectives in the divisions, many of whom are beginners. Together, they handle about 7000 cases a year.

Michael Osgood, a former deputy chief of police who headed the Special Victim Cases Unit for eight years and who demanded additional resources from his superiors, said in an interview that few of the unit's detectives are equipped to handle child abuse cases. Child abuse murders develop over months and years. Solving these cases requires advanced investigative skills, Osgood said.

Can't fix nothing

Barbara Del Valle, 47, the grandmother of the deceased Jace Eubanks, said the change came too late.

“What can be fixed now? - she said. “After all these children have died - what can be fixed?”

She cited countless incidents over the decades in New York where signs of abuse that were ignored by officials led to the murder of a child. Victims include Eliza Izquierdo in 1995, Nixmari Brown in 2006, Marcella Pierce in 2011, and Ziemer Perkins in 2016.

"Everything they say sounds great," Del Valle said, "but I know it won't happen."

The Child Protection Agency usually receives and reviews reports of child abuse through the state hotline. Agency staff then refer cases considered most serious (about 10 percent) to a rapid response team. A social worker and a patrol officer or special case detective must visit the child within two hours.

The team often brings the family to the Children's Rights Protection Center. There social workers, detectives, prosecutors, social workers and medical personnel, if any, work together. The idea is to save the traumatized child from several interviews in different instances and talk to him once.

Jace's case

On August 26, childcare workers reported that Jace's finger was swollen and his 5-year-old brother had other injuries. After that, the children were interviewed at the Children's Center. Both said they got injured while playing with each other. The police said that Jace was given a referral for a medical examination, but he never came for an appointment. Jace's grandmother said the family was never told about the appointment.

Jace's case with Child Welfare was closed by the time of his death on September 12, a law enforcement official said. An autopsy revealed that his skull had been broken some time ago. He had recently broken ribs, a perforated abdomen and bites on both ears. His mother's boyfriend, 27-year-old Jerimiah Johnson, was charged with murder.

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Jace's death came just hours after Aisin Emerson-Gonzalez was found dead. No one has yet been charged with his murder, or the murder of Julicia.

Legacy and Julicia

Two days before Eisin's death, 13-month-old Legacy Buford bled to death from abdominal injuries. Police said he was also raped with a toothbrush after his death. Police officers visited his apartment four times in May and July. Callers to 911 reported possible abuse, but police officers found no evidence of violence.

The victim's mother, Jessica Melendez, said in an interview that all emergency calls were unfounded. Allegedly, her neighbors called the police, because there were often several children in her apartment. Her own children, her nieces and nephews, they played loudly and made noise.

Melendez's boyfriend, Keyshon Gordon, is charged with the murder of Legacy. He told the police officers that he squeezed the child tightly because the child would not stop crying.

In Aiden Wolfe's case, the officers who approached the area where the emergency caller reported yelling and knocking were listening to what was happening outside the door. But they didn't knock on the door. They tried to reach the emergency caller, but he did not answer their call and they left. Aiden died the next day. The department's verification of the officers' actions showed that they were in accordance with protocol. Aiden's mother's boyfriend, Ryan Kato, was charged with his murder.

After Julicia Bettis was fatally beaten on August 10, police said that Child Welfare did not tell them about the black eye while she was alive.

There have been 13 murders of children under the age of 11 in New York this year. This figure is slightly below the average for recent years (about 15).

Some experts feared that the violence would take place behind closed doors among families left in isolation after the quarantine began last year. But this spring, that there was no sign of a surge.

However, the statistics do not console those closest to them, mourning children, whose lives ended in unimaginable horror and pain.