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FAILURE TO PROTECT
FRONTLINE, 2003
When should a parent lose the right to raise a child? FRONTLINE goes behind the scenes of one state's child welfare system in a two-part series to probe one of the most drastic and unchecked governmental powers. In part one, "The Taking of Logan Marr", FRONTLINE tells the story of the death of a five year-old girl. On Jan. 31, 2001, 5-year-old Logan Marr was found dead in the basement of her foster mother's home in Chelsea, Maine. The foster mother, Sally Schofield, a highly respected former caseworker for Maine's Department of Human Services (DHS), would later be tried and convicted of manslaughter after police determined that Logan had died from asphyxiation after being bound with duct tape and strapped into a high chair in the basement. Should Logan have been taken from her mother in the first place? Was Sally shown preferential treatment by a system overwhelmed by its caseloads and burdened by inexperience? These are but two of the many questions probed in this highly emotional program.
In part two, "The Caseworker Files", FRONTLINE follows caseworkers in Maine's Department of Human Services as they confront the heartwrenching decision of whether or not to remove children should from their homes. Here are three of their stories: Twenty-three-year-old Shaleigh Anthony puts her training to the test as she faces her first case involving allegations of serious neglect; veteran caseworker David Greeley realizes, after six months of working with 10-year-old Matthew and his father Keith, that he has to remove the boy, despite the tight bond between father and son; and Robin Whitney evaluates Shirley, who doesn't believe her daughter when she says she was sexually molested by Dan, Shirley's boyfriend.
Produced and Directed by: Barak Goodman and Rachel Dretzin
Written by: Barak Goodman
Edited by: Pamela Scott Arnold
Field Producer: Muriel Soenens
Associate Producers: Rachel Dawson and Justin Vogt
Camera: Jim Helling
Original Music: Ed Bilous
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