Following the deaths of two young children in 2022 and 2023, state agencies took steps to hire more social workers and improve measures to double-check work done to keep kids safe, but a new report says there’s still more work to be done. The Tuesday report from the state’s Office of the Child Advocate takes a look at the progress state agencies have made since the high-profile deaths of 2-year-old Liam Rivera and 10-month-old Marcello Meadows.  The report also makes a series of recommendations for the Department of Children and Families, the Court Support Services Division and the Office of the Chief Public Defender to make sure kids are safe in the future. Liam, who was found buried in a Stamford park, died in 2022 by blunt force injury to the head. A report after his death found that DCF and judicial staff didn’t handle the case properly, and the court had incomplete information when it made decisions about the toddler’s care. Marcello died in 2023 from ingesting opioids, and the ensuing report found that more could have been done to ensure his caretakers had the services they needed to cope with substance abuse. The new report recommends changes that range from more training and accountability for staff to improving policies for referring caregivers to services for substance abuse. Acting Child Advocate Christina Ghio said the follow-up report is focused on progress made since the deaths. “The changes on the system level are where we look for sort of long-term, sustainable change,” Ghio said. “What are you putting in place to make sure that whatever gaps existed before are addressed? And then also, what are you doing to make sure those things actually occur going forward?” The Office of the Child Advocate reviews work done to protect vulnerable children in Connecticut, and periodically issues reports examining specific cases or issues, often with recommendations for improvement. In Liam and Marcello’s cases, OCA found that DCF didn’t follow agency policy and couldn’t produce records of what are called “collateral contacts,” meaning workers couldn’t prove that they were following up with service providers, counselors or doctors to ensure that families were sticking with their safety plans. The report also says that there are some concerns in DCF data with issues such as properly monitoring cases, ensuring case workers visited the families and making sure families actually got the services they needed. Only about half of the cases reviewed had evidence that case workers were making sure families got services and about 44% had social workers visiting once a week to check in for the first month after cases were investigated. Since then, DCF has created a new position and the employee in that role is expected to bring more attention to safety practices. It has also established a team to review data and make improvements in how cases are handled across the agency, and is working on a new safety practice tool to make sure staff review child safety. In a written response, DCF Commissioner Jodi Hill-Lilly pointed to some of the improvements and said that the state’s Office of Labor Relations didn’t find just cause to initiate formal discipline on the staff involved in the specific cases. “I stand firm in our decision that formal staff discipline was not warranted,” Hill-Lilly said. “We remain receptive to feedback to learn from these cases and grow as an organization in order to improve upon our complex work and assist and support our front-line staff in the critical decisions they are faced with each day. Case practice issues that did not warrant formal discipline required follow-up to ensure practice improvements.” The OCA report said that staff accountability needs to be “consistent and present throughout the workforce.” Ghio said this doesn’t necessarily mean formal reprimands or termination, but regular access to training or counseling for staff. OCA also recommended that the state quickly implement Public Act 24-126, a law that was passed last year. The law requires that DCF report certain data about child safety to its Statewide Advisory Committee, among other measures. The report also said DCF should continue developing ways to monitor staff adherence to policy and make clear the way the Office of Labor Relations should get involved when there are missteps that need to be investigated by individual employees. “We also stress that our child protection safety practice is always evolving and adjusting due to the rapid changes happening within our society that impact the lives of children and families,” Hill-Lilly said in her written response. The Court Support Services Division, which oversees probation services, was involved with caregivers in both fatality cases. OCA recommended that in the future, the agency should expand its referral network for substance abuse services, offer more training and make sure that there is a policy in place to ask adults getting services whether they are caregivers to any children. The division has made several changes including creating an audit unit to ensure that policy is being followed across the agency. It has also updated policies about reporting adult substance abuse to DCF and convened an internal working group to review probation staff training. In a written statement, Melissa Farley, executive director of the external affairs division at the Judicial Branch, said the branch had worked with OCA in its investigation. “The Branch has addressed the policy violations identified in this report to ensure similar violations will not occur in future cases,” Farley said. “Although the Branch’s policies and procedures were found to be sound in the areas reviewed, we will continue to review and discuss whether additional modifications should be implemented.” After the deaths, the Office of the Public Defender worked to secure funding to hire 20 social workers to ensure that children are represented well in the agency. It also updated child protection guidelines to ensure that attorneys assigned to represent kids are visiting with the children. The OCA recommended that the public defender’s office implement a strong training framework for the new social workers and said it should get more money so that it can offer competitive salary to attorneys. The office has struggled to recruit and retain staff because of low pay, Ghio said. The public defender’s office didn’t immediately return a request for comment. “I’s a fairly straightforward report in regards to expectations not being met, and what are we doing about it?,” said Brendan Burke, assistant child advocate.  “And that’s a big question for a state agency doing really critical, life-altering work.”