A spokeswoman with the Department of Children and Family Services in Louisiana has released new information about the fentanyl overdose death of a 1-year-old child, one day after it was reported that the agency may have been negligent in the death of Jahrei Paul.
The following is a statement from that spokeswoman:
DCFS received a report to the child abuse hotline on October 21, 2022, by an anonymous reporter alleging that the mother was using marijuana in the presence of her children, including on October 20, 2022. On October 21, 2022, the case was immediately assigned to a supervisor who was recently reassigned to caseworker duties to help with the high influx of cases. Within 3 days of this assignment she put in her resignation, but continued to work for another 5 days to complete case activities. Her last day was Sunday, October 30, 2022. On Friday, October 28, 2022 she sent an email to her manager advising of no contact on this case. The manager was on sick leave on Friday the 28th, and returned to work on Monday, October 31. After testifying in court proceedings, she returned to the office and began reviewing emails and reassigning cases. In the process of doing this, she received notification that J’ahrei died.
DCFS previously investigated the mother of J’ahrei Paul due to marijuana use during her pregnancies. Louisiana law requires the Department of Children and Family Services to initiate an investigation of neglect when a newborn is exposed to any illegal substance or other substance used in an unlawful manner. There were no indications of other drug use, and no other substances were discovered in standard meconium tests. The agency initiated investigations according to state law, and there were never any concerns reported by medical professionals regarding the care of her children. There were never any other allegations or reports of abuse and neglect on these children.
During our investigation, the Agency learned that the mother was incarcerated in Texas during the time of this anonymous report and had been since at least August 2022. J’ahrei’s mother and father were not residing together prior to her incarceration. Case notes indicate that the mother made arrangements for the children to reside with their father while she was incarcerated. The agency never received any reports alleging abuse or neglect by J’ahrei’s father; this includes any concerns related to substance use.
It was learned through investigation that the children were residing with their father at the time of the intake. The father of J’ahrei had no previous investigations as a perpetrator of abuse and/or neglect. Since this time, the other three children have been removed and placed in the custody of the department pending the completion of the investigation.
The department will answer questions from the press about this information and the department’s response to the case at 10:30 Monday, November 7, 2022, in the Iberville Building, 627 North Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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