DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - In a hearing questioning DCFS in how it handled events leading to the death of a 2-year-old girl, information about a home safety checklist came to light.
DCFS Interim Director Debra Dyer-Weaver, who took over the role in the last several weeks, told lawmakers in the House's top child welfare committee Tuesday that the department completed a home safety checklist before Ta'Naja Barnes returned to the home of her biological mother, Twanka Davis, and again after she was moved back in. Dyer-Weaver says the checklist requires a case worker to visit all areas of a house and make sure there is heat, water and toilets that flush.
The entirety of the checklist is available in a PDF document attached to this story.
Lawmakers also asked about an annual report by the agency's inspector general, Meryl Paniak, that details nearly 100 cases of children who died during or after involvement with DCFS. Paniak pointed out that many of those cases were of children who died of natural causes.
"No single agency, working alone, can be expected to possess the expertise required to effectively eliminate all child abuse and neglect fatalities," she said. "Responsibility for protecting children must be shared among many sectors of the community, all working together to strengthen prevention, early intervention, the child welfare agencies intervention and cross-system collaboration."
Dyer-Webster told lawmakers the report is "troubling" and is being reviewed by the department. She said DCFS is already reducing case loads and upgrading technology, but she said state procurement rules are making that difficult.
Twanka Davis and Anthony Myers, Davis' live-in boyfriend, are both accused of Barnes' murder.
Davis pleaded not guilty to first-degree Murder and endangering the life or health of a child.
Myers is facing charges of murder, felony endangering the life and health of a child, and misdemeanor endangering the life and health of a child.
Myers is not the toddler's biological father.
The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) said a second child that was in the home, who WAND-TV is not identifying, is in its custody.
>>DCFS takes custody of second child after toddler's death
Authorities had removed Ta'Naja from Davis’ care in 2018 during an abuse investigation. While in foster care, the child was taken to a doctor in July and weighed 25.8 pounds, according to documents. Authorities returned the child to Davis in August 2018.
Case workers with Webster-Cantrell Hall in Decatur worked on the Ta'Naja Barnes case. Questioning in the Tuesday hearing revealed there were three WCH case workers involved, who had been doing weekly surprise visits at Davis' home.
Dyer-Weaver says the typical ratio of caseworkers to children is 1 worker to 15 children, or 1 to 10 in specialized cases.
DCFS says WCH recommended the court close the case after Barnes had been back for less than two weeks - an amount of time far shorter than the six months Dyer-Weaver says visits are supposed to continue. Had they continued, WCH would have been visiting the home through February.
Lawmakers at the hearing recommended standardizing the six-month requirement for private sector groups handling cases for DCFS.
Additionally, the station learned through questioning from Rep. Sue Scherer that Ta'Naja's family wouldn't let Baby TALK into the house, despite requirements that Twanka Davis get continuing care.
“Ta’naja Barnes passing was an absolute tragedy, the system failed her,” Scherer said. “We need answers from DCFS to understand how something so terrible could happen, and what can be done to prevent tragedies like this from occurring in the future.”
Davis and Myers allowed police to search the two-story home, located in the 1800 block of E. North St., after Barnes was found unresponsive on Feb. 11, 2019. Officers say the home had a strong smell of urine and rotten garbage and signs of rodent and insect infestation. The plumbing under the sink was not connected and the water main to the home was shut off from the inside.
In the bathroom, they reported finding a toilet filled to the brim. In the bathtub, they found a box filled with liquid and debris.
In the child’s room, they found only a toddler bed with no sheets or blankets, empty bottles and debris apparently chewed by rodents and feces. When Barnes was found, sworn statements say she was unresponsive, filthy and had a body temperature too low to measure.
Officers at the scene documented “the overwhelming smell of urine, feces and rotten food/garbage,” according to court documents. They recorded an interior temperature of 45 degrees, but said the thermostat was on and set to auto at 75 degrees. While police were there, temperatures rose to 58 degrees, they said.
Preliminary findings from an autopsy showed physical neglect, malnourishment, dehydration and cold exposure. Barnes weighed 21 pounds.
Davis lived at the home with Myers and their infant son, police said. Davis told police she last saw her daughter around 7 p.m. the night before. She said she brought the child a dinner of red beans and rice, but the child refused to eat.
Davis told police the home’s furnace was new and worked, but she said she does not always run the heat and had it off the previous night. Davis said the child had a heater in her room, but she removed it from the child’s room because the heater in her own room was broken.
Davis came to police headquarters and told authorities she routinely turns off the heat at the home at night and had turned it off Saturday and Sunday. She also told police she gives the child food, but does not control if she eats it.
“Twanka accepted no responsibility for the death of her child,” police wrote.
>>Community calls for action after child's death
Police said their investigation is ongoing.
