A scathing report released by the Office of the Child Advocate says the state has not done enough to protect its youngest, most vulnerable residents despite recommendations made following an investigation into the tragic death of Harmony Montgomery.
“We made a variety of recommendations designed to address systemic challenges and failures that, in the OCA’s view, contributed to the deeply tragic decision to return Harmony to her father’s custody,” the OCA’s Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report reads.
“Although the state has made progress on some of those recommendations, particularly those directed at the Department of Children and Families, the OCA continues to be concerned that the welfare and best interest of the child is not adequately presented in care and protection cases, putting some children in unsafe situations,” it continues.
According to authorities in New Hampshire, Adam Montgomery murdered his daughter Harmony sometime late in 2019, when she was 5 years old.
Harmony, according to a report into her death published by OCA in May of 2022, had been in the care of Massachusetts’ DCF from 2014 until Adam Montgomery was released from jail in February of 2019.
Despite the objections of DCF and the fact the dad had spent next to no time with the child, he was granted custody of Harmony in February of 2019 with the blessings of a state-appointed attorney who was ostensibly representing the girl.
Police in New Hampshire, where Adam Montgomery lived with Harmony, began searching for her in December of 2021, two years after she was last seen alive. Montgomery was charged with her second-degree murder in October of 2022. Harmony Montgomery’s body has never been recovered.
OCA’s findings in that report, they said Wednesday, demonstrate what happens when a child’s interests are not well considered in court proceedings.
“When children are not at the center of every aspect of the child protective system, when their unique individuality is not used to inform an understanding of parental capacity to care for them, then the system cannot truly protect them. The OCA’s Harmony Montgomery report describes the ripple effect of miscalculations of risk and an unequal weight placed on parents’ rights versus a child’s wellbeing,” they wrote.
Out of that report came 11 recommendations for changes to the state’s child welfare system, which the OCA now says the state’s judicial system and the Committee for Public Counsel Services have not implemented despite having months to do so, and “without some rebalancing of interests, children will be put in unsafe situations.”
The report also indicates that there was a slight downturn in “Critical Incident Reports” — those involving deaths, injuries, or serious emotional abuse — with the number of such reported incidents dropping from 347 in fiscal 2021 to 320 reports in fiscal 2022. However, that’s still a huge jump from the less than 200 critical incidents reported in fiscal 2019. According to the report, there were 81 deaths among the under-21 population in Massachusetts last year which generated a Critical Incident Report.
Reports of abuse in childcare settings were up by 80%, overall abuse and neglect reports up 42%, and complaint line calls increased by almost 21%.
“Children and families are struggling,” OCA Director Maria Mossaides said with the report’s release. “Increasingly, the OCA is one place they can turn to in challenging times to get help navigating complex state systems. Ensuring the welfare of our most vulnerable children and families remains our top priority.”
According to the report, there are nearly 1.4 million children under 18 in Massachusetts, of which 13% live below the poverty line and 14% experience trauma.
