After Utah boy’s death, child welfare agency seeks more powers to intervene

In the last 16 months of 12-year-old Gavin Peterson’s life, those who knew him tried to raise the alarm.

On March 28, 2023, one of them called the Utah Department of Children and Families to report suspected neglect. Two days later there was another call. Investigators have opened a case – at least the third in four years, the department said. They interviewed Gavin, spoke with his father, and visited his father’s home.

On May 8, 2023, while the case remained open, DCFS received another report of abuse, prompting a second home visit and additional interviews—with Gavin, his father, and other adults.

That same day, social workers closed the investigation, calling it “unfounded.”

DCFS heard nothing from Gavin until July 9, 2024, when child welfare workers learned he was in the hospital suffering from the effects of long-term malnutrition. He died that day.

Agency director Tonya Mirup acknowledged this month that the boy had fallen off the radar of caseworkers since he was removed from school in August 2023. This is despite a medical history that dates back to his infancy.

Gavin Vanishing from public view represents a “unique” and “small group” of cases of abuse and neglect where parents “make extreme efforts to avoid DCFS and public intervention,” Myrup said.

But when that happens, she said, Utah has no protocols for screening children.

That’s something the child welfare agency wants to change.

“More and more children are falling through the cracks.”

Samantha Field of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education said the nonprofit, which advocates for homeschooled children, has reviewed information that – contrary to Myrup’s conclusion – indicates that cases like Gavin’s are quite common.

She pointed to data from Michigan, Kentucky, Connecticut and Oklahoma that show that in about a third of cases where a child is removed from school, the move occurs after a report of child abuse has resulted in a child protection case.

“Every conversation I’ve ever had with a caseworker refers to the homeschool law as a common get-out-of-jail-free game for criminals,” said Field, the nonprofit’s director of government relations.

Gavin’s father, stepmother and older brother were charged with reckless homicide and child abuse in connection with his death. Shane Peterson, Nicole Scott and Tyler Peterson respectively remain held without bond in the Weber County Jail while the case is pending.

Field’s group is working to propose policies they believe could make a difference for at-risk children like Gavin. All members of the nonprofit were once homeschoolers themselves.

Because isolation is “one of the most significant risk factors for the presence, severity and escalation of abuse,” she said, the group maintains a system for enrolling home-schooled students so records are kept of them.

In Utah, parents must complete a written declaration of their intent to homeschool. The state’s new voucher program also offers $8,000 scholarships to parents and families interested in homeschooling or attending a private school.

As Myrup suggested, the nonprofit believes that homeschooled children who have been abused by their parents should be “flagged” for intervention or additional monitoring by a mandatory reporter, and that the well-being of these children should be assessed annually.

“More kids are failing than ever,” Fields said.

They also support legislation that would prohibit homeschool parents convicted of any offense that makes them unfit to be a teacher from also being considered unfit to homeschool. Utah has a similar requirement in homeschool affidavits asking parents to certify that they have never been convicted of child abuse, but there are no mechanisms in place to review parental claims, Fields said.

Rep. Christine Watkins, R-Price, said: At a meeting of the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Commission on Oct. 10, she said she intends to support legislation next year that would allow caseworkers to seek welfare check orders in situations like Gavin’s, where a child with a medical history has been isolated. She did not respond to The Salt Lake Tribune’s request for additional comment.

Other lawmakers, such as Rep. Cheryl Acton, R-West Jordan, have proposed allowing social workers to make more unannounced home visits; organizing additional training for rural doctors and new social workers to recognize signs of abuse; and providing transportation services for rural families to attend after-hours consultations when nearby facilities are closed.

‘Broken’ system, says one parent

The group’s Oct. 10 meeting also included lengthy statements from parents, guardians and advocates who said they have witnessed shortcomings in Utah’s child welfare system and are demanding change.

Kevin Franke, whose own children were abused while separated from him and living with their mother in Ivins, called for a system-wide investigation and reform.

Over the past year, he told the commission, he’s seen both sides of DCFS. It employs “good people who genuinely care about us.” He also has too few employees, who he says are paid too little and “Overwhelming number of cases they have to investigate or manage.”

He called the government’s child welfare system “broken” because it appears to value “the rights of abusive parents over the rights, safety and well-being of their children.”

“It failed Gavin Peterson,” he said, “and it failed my children at their time of greatest need. Please act now.”

Franke also advocated for “red flag laws” that would give authorities the ability to “intervene quickly” that could “overcome the insurmountable barrier of the ‘uncooperative parent.'”

Such laws could help Peterson, he said.

“And I shudder when I think that my own children were just weeks away from the same fate,” he added.

“We are not suggesting that homeschooling is abusive.”

When Gov. Spencer Cox was asked about Gavin’s case at his monthly news conference in September, he acknowledged that DCFS was facing staffing shortages and said the Legislature was working to increase wages to help retain caseworkers.

But when a Tribune reporter asked about additional oversight of at-risk homeschooled children, he said such checkpoints were not warranted and that he was “offended” by the issue.

“We will never have a government big enough to live in people’s homes and be able to prevent all this from happening. That’s just not how it works, and it can’t work that way,” Cox said. “The people who are responsible for this are the people who abused this child and I hope they rot in hell.”

“They are responsible,” he continued. “It’s not like the government is getting into every home. … It’s a ridiculous allegation, but we will do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen when these cases are reported to us, but I’m just deeply offended by this issue.”

The Tribune has reached out to Cox’s representatives for clarification on his remarks. They did not provide additional comments.

Field said her group sometimes faces resistance from people who “seem to think that when we discuss homeschool policy, we are discussing the idealized form of homeschool parent that they imagine or know personally.”

She said the group analyzed limited data that suggests homeschooling parents are no less likely to abuse their children. Evidence also shows that isolation is a significant risk factor for abuse.

When homeschooling is used in an already abusive situation, “the abuse can escalate and become more deadly because there are no guardrails,” she said.

“We’re not saying that homeschooling is cruel or that homeschooling makes people cruel,” Fields said. “We simply do not believe that homeschooling absolves anyone from abuse and allows abusers to isolate victims.”

She said the consequences of not having policies to better protect children is that more children are dying.

Editor’s Note • If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, you can report it to the Utah Division of Children and Family Services by calling 1-855-323-3237 or visiting dcfs.utah.gov/child-abuse-reporting-form.