BABY'S DEATH SPURS WAKE REFORMS

Infants Born To Drug-Abusing Parents Will Come Under Tighter Scrutiny By
Wake's Child Welfare Staff

Officials say McCarthy, asleep, rolled on her baby, killing
her.

Spurred by a 6-week-old girl's death, Wake County's child welfare agency
Friday released a plan to improve its investigation and supervision of
infants born to drug-abusing parents. After Natalia Rita McCarthy died last
spring, Child Protective Services created a new protocol for dealing with
newborns, or new mothers, who have drugs in their systems.

Now, when mothers or newborns test positive for drugs, a social worker
does a thorough criminal background check of adults in the house,
devises a safety plan for the child and works to ensure that a
drug-free adult helps nurture the baby. Natalia tested positive for
cocaine after her birth March 22, according to the Wake County
Sheriff's Office. She died May 4 after her mother, Corinne McCarthy,
29, rolled on top of her while they slept, investigators said.

McCarthy was arrested Monday on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.
A prosecutor said she tested positive for cocaine after Natalia's
death. "The protocol we have developed would have us being involved
. in an ongoing way in cases of a baby testing for cocaine," said
Warren Ludwig, who oversees Wake's child welfare services. "We did not
do that in this case." The new policy, instituted in December, was
released Friday with a two-page statement that detailed interactions
between Child Protective Services and McCarthy. After three meetings
with McCarthy over 15 days -- one of them a home visit -- Child
Protective Services closed Natalia's case. The agency never asked
McCarthy to take a drug test after she left the hospital, and it took
her word that she was not on cocaine.

It never recommended that she get drug treatment. Social workers also
never checked McCarthy's criminal record.

She had been convicted of possession of drug paraphernalia in 2002 and
of driving while impaired in 2002 and 2004, according to court
records. Tom Vitaglione, an N.C. Child Advocacy Institute senior
fellow, said the new policy means that Wake child welfare workers must
take a harder line on parents who use drugs. "They're going to assume
that it's a legitimate abuse case," he said. Under state law, social
workers alone cannot permanently remove children from homes where
abuse is suspected or under investigation. Instead, their agencies
must persuade a juvenile court to do so. Wake officials estimate that
less than 5 percent of complaints taken by county welfare officials
result in removing children from homes. After Natalia tested positive
for cocaine at WakeMed Raleigh Campus, Child Protective Services was
informed. McCarthy said she used drugs several years ago but said she
had quit, the report said. But she also acknowledged taking cocaine
two days before Natalia was born and once earlier in her pregnancy.

McCarthy said she had no drug problem and did not need treatment. A
friend told a social worker she could help McCarthy with Natalia,
according to the statement.

In addition, the friend said she did not think McCarthy used drugs.
McCarthy and Natalia went home. About two weeks later, a county social
worker met McCarthy at the Wake Public Health Center, where Natalia
had a doctor's appointment, according to the statement.

Later that same day, the social worker went to McCarthy's home near
Knightdale. At the house, the social worker spoke with McCarthy about
drug abuse, said Jane Martin, spokeswoman for Wake County Human
Services. McCarthy assured the social worker she was not using drugs
and did not intend to, Martin said. Ludwig said he did not know how
long the social worker stayed in McCarthy's home. The department's
statement describes McCarthy as attentive to Natalia and said the
house was clean.

The social worker, who was not identified in the report, advised
McCarthy about proper sleeping arrangements. About 20 days later,
after no further contact with McCarthy, the social worker met with her
supervisor, who also was not identified, and Natalia's case was
closed. "The social worker took the mother's assurances that she did
not have an ongoing substance abuse problem at face value," Ludwig
said. Six days later, Natalia was dead. (News researcher Becky Ogburn
contributed to this report.)

Sidebar

NEW STEPS Wake County Child Protective Services made several policy
changes after Natalia's death.

They include: * If Child Protective Services is investigating neglect
in a home, criminal record checks will be done on all adults in the
home. Previously, there was no mandate for criminal records checks. *
When the agency receives a report of an infant, or mother, testing
positive for drugs, it will be treated as a report of neglect, and a
social worker will investigate. * If a newborn or mother tests
positive for drugs, an infant must be supervised by another
responsible adult in addition to the mother, as part of a safety plan
developed for the baby. * Mothers who test positive for drugs, or
whose newborns test positive, can be assessed by substance abuse
experts who will determine whether the mother needs treatment. *
Mothers can be asked to submit to random drug tests.

If a mother refuses to comply or tests positive for drugs, the social
worker can take further action, such as meeting with the family to
re-evaluate the safety plan or asking the courts to remove the child
from a home.