07/01/2026
“DOES NOT meet acceptance criteria.”
Before I get into today’s post…
I know I’ve been quieter than usual.
The truth is, I’ve been buried in records—collecting data, reviewing Kentucky child fatality files, filing Open Records requests, and working to ensure the right people are hearing the concerns I’ve uncovered.
At the same time, it’s summer, and my own children are home. I’ve been intentional about protecting that time with them.
This work matters deeply to me, but so do they.
One of the hardest parts of this project has been learning to balance a mission I’m incredibly passionate about with being the mother my children deserve. Some days that balance is harder than others.
But I can’t ignore what I’ve found.
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Over the past year, I’ve dedicated hundreds of hours to reviewing Kentucky child fatality records.
I’ve filed Open Records requests. I’ve reviewed child welfare records, court records, criminal records, medical records, and public documents. I’ve even had to sue the Commonwealth to obtain records that Kentucky law says should be publicly available.
I didn’t do that for attention.
I did it because transparency matters.
If we’re going to improve Kentucky’s child protection system, we have to know what happened—not just after a child dies, but before.
One record led to another.
And eventually, I uncovered a case I simply couldn’t ignore.
Based on the records I’ve obtained, an infant died under circumstances that ultimately resulted in criminal charges. A parent later pleaded guilty to Wanton Endangerment after originally being charged with Criminal Abuse in the First Degree.
Yet based on the records I’ve reviewed, there appears to be no DCBS child fatality investigation into that child’s death.
Some people may think the criminal case is enough.
It isn’t.
A criminal prosecution and a child welfare investigation serve different purposes.
A criminal court determines criminal responsibility.
Child Protective Services exists to determine whether abuse or neglect occurred under child welfare law, assess the safety of other children in the home, provide services when appropriate, and document child fatalities so they are subject to oversight and public accountability.
Those responsibilities don’t disappear because criminal charges were filed.
As I continued reviewing public records, I discovered there were additional children born after the infant’s death, including children who appear to remain in parental care.
I also found subsequent public court records documenting continued drug-related court involvement, including contempt proceedings related to violations of court-ordered drug testing.
The children’s father later died from a drug overdose and had prior Child Protective Services involvement that resulted in the termination of his parental rights to other children.
At that point, my concern was no longer the child who had died.
My concern became the children who are still alive.
So I did exactly what Kentucky asks its citizens to do.
I made a report to the Child Abuse Hotline.
I wasn’t asking anyone to reopen a criminal case.
I wasn’t asking anyone to punish a parent.
I wasn’t asking anyone to relitigate the past; I reported the fatality, the charges, the conviction, the prior CPS involvement, and subsequent born children in the home.
I was asking one simple question:
Are the children who remain in parental care safe?
The response I received was this:
“The report you submitted DOES NOT meet acceptance criteria for further assessment and will NOT be assigned to a social service worker/staff.”
No assessment.
No investigation.
No social worker assigned.
Then came the part that honestly left me speechless.
After telling me my report would not be assigned to a social worker, Central Intake emailed me a list of community resource links—including Kentucky 211, kynect, and myKY.info.
I had to read it twice.
I made it very clear in my report that I do not know this family.
I’ve never met them.
I have no relationship with them.
So I’m genuinely trying to understand the process.
What exactly was I supposed to do with those links?
Was I expected to somehow locate a family I’ve never met and encourage them to call 211?
If the agency believed resources were appropriate, why wasn’t a child welfare professional assigned to determine whether the children were safe and, if appropriate, provide those resources directly?
Those are honest questions.
This case isn’t why I’m alarmed.
It’s because it isn’t the only one.
As part of the Kentucky Child Fatality Project, I’ve begun compiling data from fatality cases across Kentucky.
One pattern continues to emerge.
Many of these children had prior reports to Child Protective Services before they died or suffered severe abuse.
Many had an extensive number of prior reports.
Many of those reports were screened out before a social worker was ever assigned.
I’m still collecting and verifying the data, and I will share it when it’s complete.
But what I’m seeing is deeply concerning.
This isn’t about blaming individual workers.
This is about asking whether Kentucky’s screening process is identifying children before they become the next fatality.
By Kentucky law, allegations of child abuse or neglect are to be evaluated under the statutory framework established for child protection. Fatalities involving suspected abuse or neglect carry additional significance because they are subject to oversight, review, and public accountability.
Those investigations matter.
Not only because a child has died.
But because what is learned may determine whether brothers, sisters, or future children are protected.
If I’ve misunderstood the records, I welcome that explanation.
But if the records are accurate…
Then Kentucky has some very difficult questions to answer.
I’ve already submitted additional Open Records requests.
I’ll continue following the evidence wherever it leads.
If the evidence supports the agency’s actions, I’ll say so.
If it doesn’t, I’ll say that too.
I’m not letting this one go.
Not because I want attention.
Not because I want to shame a family.
Because somewhere tonight, there are children who deserve to have someone ask one simple question before they become the next child fatality:
Are they safe?
