The death of one-month-old Rajahnthon Haynie, whose body was recovered from Druid Hill Park Sunday, presents yet another incident of child abuse that begs the inevitable question, might this tragedy have been avoided? In a peculiar twist of fate, a law approved by the General Assembly just last year may make help prevent such horrors from occurring in the future.
Lakesha Haynie, the infant boy's 28-year-old mother, has been charged with first degree murder in his death. According to autopsy results, Rajahnthon died of head fractures and blunt force trauma. His mother allegedly buried him in a shallow grave in the park last month.
But what's particularly troubling about the crime is that Ms. Haynie had a history of child endangerment that should have been well-known to authorities. She had four other children taken away by the Department of Social Services over the past eight years, her parental rights terminated in at least two cases.
Last year, the state legislature approved a law that requires the health department to notify the Social Services Administration when a mother whose parental rights have been terminated for incidents of abuse or neglect has given birth to another child.
Once social services is notified, the agency is required to investigate the family and determine whether further intervention is required. But because the law only went into effect on Oct. 1, the state had no reason to investigate Ms. Haynie. Past actions taken against her pre-date the law and therefore could not have triggered action by the Department of Human Resources.
Lawmakers had a chance to embrace this reform one year earlier when it might have made a difference to Rajahnthon, but concerns over privacy and maternal rights fueled opposition. Last year's measure passed with two compromises – shortening the "look back" time to five years and flagging only parents who abused or neglected their children and not all who lost parental rights.
Much is not yet known about the circumstances of the infant's death. It's far from clear whether social workers could have predicted such violence, even if they'd been alerted to Ms. Haynie's troubled history by the new law.
But what's important is that every effort be made to identify children in danger of being harm and take whatever measures are necessary to prevent it.
The economic downturn of the last two years has clearly put more children at risk of abuse. Not only are families more stressed than ever, but cuts in government spending on child welfare programs combined with the heightened demand for such services have caused the social safety net to fray.
More than ever, it's important for all of us, from teachers and health professionals to relatives and neighbors who come in contact with children and their families, to report incidents of suspected abuse. Since the "birth match" law went into effect, at least 3 babies have been identified for closer monitoring, and while that's helpful, it's only a small fraction of the children who are at risk of harm.