Details outlining DHS role in girl's murder by custodial father are sealed (St. Clair County, Michigan)

As is often the case, the powers that be are already scurrying to cover up their role in this little girl's torture/murder at the hands of her custodial father, JOE GALVAN, and the step. (We've posted on this case many times in the past few months). How and why Michigan's St. Clair County's Department of Human Services recommended that this monster get custody of this child, and why CPS did nothing to get her out of that house of horrors may be sealed from public view indefinitely. Big surprise.

http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20100908/NEWS01/9080307/Details-of-Prhaze-s-case-to-stay-secret

Details of Prhaze's case to stay secret
State law prohibits release of report

By STEPHEN TAIT
Times Herald
• September 8, 2010

The public might never know whether St. Clair County's Department of Human Services misstepped in its handling of Prhaze Galvan's home life before she was murdered.

The Michigan Office of Children's Ombudsman issued a report outlining its recommendations to DHS for its handling of the case.

But missing from that report is the office's findings -- what DHS or Child Protective Services did leading up to Prhaze's murder and whether those actions followed policy.

Charlotte Smith, acting supervisor and intake investigator, said her office is prohibited from disclosing or discussing the findings of its investigation.

She said state law prohibits the office from revealing those findings except to a select few people, including legislators. Even then, Smith said, those reports are heavily censored to follow privacy laws -- and legislators are not supposed to discuss the findings.

While the recommendations that are disclosed aren't detailed, "the full report itself was not vague," Smith said.

"Findings are much more detailed about what the agency may have failed to do," she said.

Only a select few can get the findings report, including lawmakers, family members and those who are mandated by law to report child abuse, such as teachers and doctors.

To get the report, however, those people would have had to sign on as a complainant at the beginning of the investigation.

Prhaze was murdered Jan. 15 by her father, Joe Galvan, and stepmother, Jennifer Galvan. The two were sentenced in August to life in prison.

Mary DeWitt, who cared for Prhaze for nine months, said it is "ridiculous" the report is not public.

"They need to put this information out," she said. "(DHS workers) don't want the public to know how ignorant they were time after time after time. I think they should put it in the newspaper, what their findings were, what the workers did.

"How many more kids have to go through this before someone steps in and says, 'start looking at all the circumstances'?"

St. Clair County DHS Director Kay Andrzejak was not available for comment Tuesday. According to her voice mail, she was not at work. The person the voice mail said to contact instead did not return messages seeking comment.

State Sen. Jud Gilbert, R-Algonac, received a report with the findings but has read through it only once. He said he needs to sit down with an ombudsman official to sift through what the findings mean.

He also would not share what the findings said because he was unsure about what is and what is not confidential in the report.

Smith said the entire report is confidential.

Gilbert said that from his initial reading, "I don't see anything from a policy or legislative standpoint that I'll necessarily go forward on."

Deciding whether a child is put back into a home is a difficult decision, he said.

"I look at these as very, very difficult decisions," he said. "While procedures and policies can be improved, it is pretty clear to me there is no guarantee no matter what you do."

The document outlining "recommendations" from the ombudsman office was sent to the Times Herald on Aug. 31.

It does not say whether DHS shared blame for the 3-year-old's murder, nor did it provide details of what actions DHS or Child Protective Services made before or after Prhaze's death.

For instance, in its first "recommendation" to the St. Clair County DHS, the ombudsman office said the DHS should "identify what steps it will take to ensure that CPS investigations comply with required policies, and that risk and safety instruments accurately reflect family history and child safety."

But the document does not say whether DHS and CPS followed proper protocol in the Galvan case.