Report: Colorado child abuse program failing

Many of Colorado’s child abuse workers are inexperienced and overwhelmed and at times failed to take basic steps to protect children, according to a report in the Denver Post.

The newspaper says (http://tinyurl.com/b78rey9 ) workers failed to follow state policy at least half of the time when assigned to protect a child who later died of abuse or neglect.

The mistakes ranged from paperwork problems to not visiting a child within the time required. There also reports that workers dismissed abuse allegations prior to the child’s death without investigating.

Over the past six years, 72 children in the child welfare system in Colorado have died.

Colorado Department of Human Services director Reggie Bicha says there is no way to determine the best caseload ratio