Zahra Baker Case To Be Reviewed By State
State law says that any time Social Services is involved with a family and that child dies within one year, there's an intensive review to see if the death could have been prevented. The investigation will begin locally with all the key players, including Zahra's schools, DSS offices, emergency responders and the district attorney. Their findings will then be passed on to a state review team.
Brett Loftis, executive director of the Council for Children's Rights, is part of the state review team. He said the process will likely center around how DSS handled the multiple reports of abuse before Zahra's death.
"This tragic case really highlights one of the big policy issues we focus on, which is the fact that each Department of Social Service has its own database, their own kind of electronic system, and they don't speak to each other," Loftis said.
