By: News Staff
Email: news@abc6.com
Twitter: @ABC6
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – Providence Police are investigating after a two-month-old baby girl was found dead Thursday.
The child was at home with her mother when she died, but was in court-ordered temporary care of DCYF.
"It's absolutely devastating to think of a 2-month-old child dying while they're in the care and custody of the state of Rhode Island."
State representative Teresa Tanzi is one of the state leaders pushing for changes within DCYF.
She says this tragic death is a part of a much bigger problem and it's nothing new.
A representative from the Office of the Child Advocate, an independent watchdog group for DCYF, spoke at the State House four months ago saying, “I don't want to be back here again before you soon.”
They released a scathing report about DCYF, identifying staffing as the biggest problem.
That report is what prompted a police investigation.
Since then, 65 new case workers have been hired, but they’re not trained yet.
Now the Office of the Child Advocate is working on yet another report, investigating the death of that 2-month-old girl and three other near-deaths.
© WLNE-TV / ABC6 2017