A new report from the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate found a series of failures by the Department of Children and Families that left a young Worcester girl in the care of her father, who is now indicted for her murder.
The 65-page report details how DCF failed to recognize what the child advocate described as chronic neglect affecting A’zella Ortiz and her siblings. The report states that despite years of agency involvement for 3 years and 8 months, the children’s circumstances did not improve and instead worsened.
According to the report, DCF ultimately closed the case after workers believed the family had left the state. The agency had not connected with the family for more than 100 days before closing the case…