Nearly 20 years after a grand jury first demanded it, advocates returned to Harrisburg this week with a haunting reminder of why Pennsylvania still needs an independent watchdog for its children: the death of 9-year-old Renesmay Eutsey.
Child advocates, young people and survivors joined community leaders in calling on state lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro to create an independent Office of Child Advocate. Supporters say the office would provide a critical layer of oversight for a state child welfare system that currently monitors itself.
The recommendation for such an office dates back nearly two decades to a grand jury investigation into the death of a disabled 14-year-old in Philadelphia. Since then, the push has remained unsuccessful, according to a statement from The Center for Children’s Justice.
Cathleen Palm, founder of the center, said an ombudsman is necessary to provide an objective look at systemic failures.
“Concerns and complaints — even alarm bells — are raised within structures that may have contributed to those concerns,” Palm said. “An independent Office of Child Advocate remains an essential — yet missing — tool in a broader effort to ensure transparency, accountability and better outcomes for children.”
The call for action intensified following a September letter sent to the state Intergovernmental Workgroup for Child Safety and Stability. That request cited the harrowing death of the Fayette County girl last year.
Renesmay had been living in Dunbar Borough with two cousins who served as her caregivers. Her body was found Sept. 4 in a garbage bag, weighted down with rocks in the Youghiogheny River near Smithton. The two women, one of whom had legal guardianship of the girl, are charged with her killing and with abusing two of the four other children in their care.
This week in Harrisburg, Palm was joined by advocates from across the state who echoed those concerns.
Jonathan Budd, associate executive director at KidsVoice in Allegheny County, said the office would be a lifeline for foster youth, particularly those sent to facilities outside their home counties. KidsVoice provides legal representation and advocacy for children within the Allegheny County child welfare system.
“These children need an independent avenue for complaints to be reviewed, especially to ensure that the basics of childhood — safety, health and education — are provided to these children in the same manner as we would expect them to be provided to our own children if they were placed in that facility,” Budd said.
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