NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) — New issues uncovered in the death of Heaven Watkins could make protecting children more difficult. The 11-year-old was brutally beaten to death in her Norfolk home. Her mother and mother's boyfriend are charged with her murder.
“I don't want this to happen to anybody else,” Heaven’s aunt, Sheronda Orridge lamented. “People need to know, you know, people need to know Heaven's story.”
Heaven's story includes a history with Child Protective Services in Minnesota. Court documents detail abuse and neglect there. In fact, records show social workers were so concerned, they removed the little girl from her mother's care for almost a year and a half.
Shortly after Latoya Smith regained custody, the family moved to Norfolk.
Then in February, Virginia CPS got involved. According to a court hearing, case workers investigated a complaint when Heaven's hand was so badly burned, she was put in the hospital for six days. CPS decided this time, it wasn't enough to remove Heaven from her mother's home.
When making that decision, did Virginia caseworkers know what happened in Minnesota? Did they check? We don't know. But here's what we do know: Virginia CPS workers are not required to get in touch with agencies in other localities.
We've uncovered a manual put out by the state Department of Social Services. It reads: "Where possible, abuse history from other county or state jurisdictions should be checked."
“It sounds very simple to say, 'Yes, you should follow up on every single case,'” VDSS Director of Family Services Carl Ayers said. “But the reality when you have a family that may not even be willing to tell you their last name, let alone their last address, is that it's much more complicated than saying, 'Yes, you should check on where they were before.'”
We've also found out even if the state were to require Virginia caseworkers contact other state CPS systems, there's no formal process to do it. Virginia has its own central database that contains names of people identified as abusers or neglecters in the Commonwealth, but there's no nationwide link to other states.
13News Now asked Ayers if a national central registry is something he thinks would keep kids safer.
“That would allow them a central point to be able to check that information, to have access to that information and to be able to truly follow up on that to ensure we're protecting our children and families,” he responded.
But creating that registry is as not simple as aggregating each state’s system.
“The definitions of abuse and neglect from state to state are not consistent from state to state,” Ayers explained. “So how Virginia defines who goes into a central registry and who does not, is not necessarily the same as other states.”
Back in Minnesota, Heaven's aunt believes a nationwide system could have saved her niece. She hopes changes to the Child Protection System would allow it to protect other kids in the future.
“If you have a case, that case should follow you,” she added. “It shouldn't go away because you move to a different state.”