The state released a report that shows a 21% increase in child neglect cases from last year.
The report says the state received 519 cases through its complaint line, and the Office of the Child Advocate also received 300 reports involving 588 kids, the highest number in a few years.
Maria Mossaides, director of the Office of the Child Advocate, said the COVID-19 pandemic marked the beginning of this trend.
“That’s where we’ve seen the increase in cases … from the beginning of the pandemic, and that trend has unfortunately continued,” Mossaides said.
The disappearance of then-5-year-old Harmony Montgomery was also highlighted in the report. She disappeared in 2019 wasn’t reported missing until 2021. The state granted custody to her father Adam Montgomery from the care of the Department of Child and Families.
The state said Montgomery was unfit to care for her and was not vetted properly.
Mossaides said they have been working with DCF to ensure children are represented in custody cases.
“The parents have constitutional rights to raise their children, so it’s a very high bar for any state to intervene and interfere with tjhat parent-child retionship,” Mossaides said.
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