Rhode Island Child Advocate Reviews 30 Deaths, Finds DCYF Screened Out Warning Calls

A Rhode Island Child Advocate panel reviewed 30 child deaths and 11 near-deaths and found DCYF screened out some hotline calls that should have been investigated.

By Adam Neuerburg

October 22, 2026

Providence, Rhode Island — A review of 30 child deaths and 11 near-deaths involving families known to Rhode Island’s Department of Children, Youth and Families found that some hotline calls were screened out when they should have been investigated, and that in several cases a child later died or nearly died, according to a report released Aug. 31 by the state’s Office of the Child Advocate.

Seven years of deaths and near-deaths under review

The Child Fatality Review Panel, convened under state law, examined cases involving children age six and younger who were in DCYF’s care or whose families had prior contact with the department. The Child Advocate first announced a review of 29 deaths and nine near-deaths in September 2025, then added one death and two near-deaths from 2026.

According to the Child Advocate’s release, the fatalities span every year from 2019 through 2026: four in 2019, three in 2020, four in 2021, five in 2022, five in 2023, six in 2024, two in 2025 and one so far in 2026. The report runs nearly 400 pages and contains 76 recommendations, according to NBC 10 and Ocean State Media.

Calls screened out, families never followed up

The panel’s central finding concerned DCYF’s hotline. NBC 10 reported that the panel found inconsistent decisions about which calls warranted a formal investigation, and that some calls about families were screened out before a child died or was nearly killed. In other cases, families were referred for help, but no worker was ever assigned to follow up.

Ocean State Media reported that screening decisions varied in how they applied state law and department policy, that some families who reached out for help were turned away when they could have been directed to prevention services, and that the department’s Support and Response Unit could not meet its own response deadlines. Child Protective Services investigators carried caseloads “well above” national best-practice levels, the report found.

The panel also identified unsafe sleep and co-sleeping as a recurring theme among the infant deaths, along with parental cannabis use.

I’m hesitant to say this is simply a dollars issue.

Katelyn Medeiros, Rhode Island Child Advocate, to Ocean State Media

Medeiros told Ocean State Media the problems are rooted in misaligned policy, law and regulation, and in weak internal oversight. She said staffing is part of the picture, but that “staffing alone is not going to solve that.”

Union and agency responses

Matthew Gunnip, president of SEIU Local 580, which represents most DCYF union employees, told NBC 10 that the findings confirm problems workers have raised for years. He placed responsibility for screening on department leadership.

Ultimately at the end of the day, the administration makes final decisions over what gets investigated and what doesn’t.

Matthew Gunnip, SEIU Local 580, to NBC 10

DCYF said it takes the findings seriously and is reviewing the recommendations, according to NBC 10. The department said it had already begun daily reviews of screened-out CPS reports, added training and assigned more staff to the Support and Response Unit.

Why screening decisions matter

The hotline is where a child welfare agency decides which families get a knock on the door and which get nothing. This report shows that in Rhode Island those decisions were inconsistent, sometimes ignored the department’s own rules, and in some cases left children in danger the state had been told about. Inconsistency cuts both ways: the same discretion that let serious calls fall through can also send investigators after families who did nothing wrong. A screening system that is clear, written down and reviewed is a protection for children and for parents. Families facing a report can learn how investigations are supposed to work in FAN’s guide to CPS investigations.

Key facts

Report released Aug. 31, 2026, by the Rhode Island Office of the Child Advocate’s Child Fatality Review Panel.
Reviewed 30 deaths and 11 near-deaths of children age six and younger, from 2019 through 2026.
Found some hotline calls were screened out that should have been investigated; several of those children later died or nearly died.
Some families were referred for help but never assigned a worker.
The report is nearly 400 pages with 76 recommendations.
DCYF says it has started daily reviews of screened-out reports.

Sources

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