Suffolk puts child fatality review team into action after Newsday investigation into mom's CPS complaints

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine has ordered a county "Child Fatality Review Team" to convene for the first time, a move publicly announced after a Newsday investigation into the death of a Middle Island boy whose mother was investigated numerous times by Child Protective Services.

The team was established by the county legislature nearly a decade ago, but was never put into action, Romaine's office said in a statement. The county's new child fatality team is intended to ensure that CPS "learns from" prior cases of children in the system who died before they could get help. The team will get new members and meet quarterly, the officials said.

A Romaine spokesman didn't provide an answer when asked what specific benefit the county fatality review team would provide that couldn't be gleaned from a state fatality report after a child's death.

Last week, Newsday reported that Kerri Bedrick — whose 9-year-old son, Eli Henrys, died last year in a wrong-way crash — had been the subject of CPS complaints between 2018 to 2023. County CPS workers took no action against Bedrick.

In a statement Wednesday to Newsday, Romaine also called for a  "culture of accountability" within CPS.

Newsday's investigation into Eli's death detailed a report issued by the state Office of Children and Family Services. State law requires the agency to conduct an investigative review after a child's death. The state's review is done to see if laws were followed in the case of a child's death.

Called a Child Fatality Report, the state's probe is released online without any names of victims or those who filed complaints. The specific details in the December review enabled Newsday to confirm that it concerned Eli Henrys.

Romaine's office confirmed the county executive received a copy of the state's report. It is unclear whether Romaine’s office took any action following any type of review of the report.

Since Romaine took office in January 2024, the department has been working on CPS issues. By October, Romaine implemented a state policy known as Blind Removal, county spokesman Michael Martino told Newsday in a phone interview.

According to the policy, certain cases — without names or other identifying information — are presented to a committee, which includes supervisors and department leadership. The committee can then determine if a case should result in the child being removed from the custody of their parent.

A 2020 state directive explaining the purpose and use of the Blind Removal policy noted then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo supported the use of the policy "as a strategy for reducing overrepresentation of minority children in the foster care system."

"The goal of the ‘Blind Removal Process’ is to eliminate bias in decision-making during the child protective services removal process, decrease the overall number of children being removed from their homes and build a more equitable system of care," according to an October 2020 administrative directive from the state Office of Children and Family Services.

Children were removed from their home in 22 of 39 cases, or a little over half the instances in Suffolk County this year, Romaine's statement said.

The last complaint about Bedrick that CPS deemed unfounded was in 2023, following allegations of inadequate care when Bedrick wandered around her neighborhood and into a fire station while allegedly experiencing paranoid delusions.

Romaine alleged the department under prior County Executive Steve Bellone did not use the state policy. "We believe that had the Blind Removal policy been enacted by the prior administration, this tragic loss could have been avoided," Romaine said in the statement. 

Bedrick’s son, Eli, died in August. His death came before Romaine implemented the policy. Bellone did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Romaine's office noted it has been increasing CPS staff since it came into the administration.

County payroll data obtained by Newsday shows the total number of caseworkers in the social services department went from 498 to 519 from 2023 to 2024. The year prior, under the Bellone administration, it had increased from 454 caseworkers to 498 caseworkers in 2023, a relatively steeper increase.

There has been a 20% increase in caseworkers in the county’s social services department since 2020. In January of that year, the death of 8-year-old Thomas Valva prompted promises of sweeping reforms of the department. The boy died in January 2020 of hypothermia after his father hosed him down and forced him to sleep in a frigid, unheated garage. 

Thomas’ father, Michael Valva, a former New York City police officer, and his then-fiancee, Angela Pollina, were both convicted of second-degree murder. Each is serving 25 years to life in prison. 

"From Day One, my administration has worked to reform CPS, especially after the system so badly failed Thomas Valva," Romaine said.

Romaine’s office said "newly developed enhanced training" has also been created through the Stony Brook School of Social Welfare and is being implemented. It’s unclear the exact timeline of when the new training was rolled out to CPS staff and what prompted the implementation.

State Sen. Roxanne J. Persaud (D-Brooklyn) said she was "deeply saddened and disturbed" by the reports of Eli’s death. Persaud sits on the state Senate Children and Families Committee.

"His death could have been prevented if the agency tasked with protecting him had acted," Persaud said in a statement to Newsday.

Persaud said she is "eagerly awaiting the implementation of changes" to improve CPS’ work.

Bedrick is jailed at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverhead. She faces charges including aggravated vehicular homicide, fleeing an officer and aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child in the car.

She has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said Bedrick's blood tested positive for methamphetamines, which her defense attorney and family said were prescribed.