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The investigation was prompted by an incident on July 13, where a social worker never arrived to a home where child abuse and neglect was reported, according to Baker.

He said the agency has been 鈥渓acking in their responses,鈥� including showing up over an hour after being called or not responding to calls of abuse or neglect until law enforcement has already handled the situation.

鈥淭here are some issues that the local Caroline County Department of Social Services needs to work out, and we have been working with them for quite some time to work out,鈥� Baker said.

The Maryland State Police and the state Department of Human Services are conducting the investigation.

Baker and Caroline County State鈥檚 Attorney Sloane Franklin met with the secretary of Human Services about a year ago to address long CPS response times.

鈥淲e were promised a lot of changes, and unfortunately, those changes have not come to fruition,鈥� Baker said.

The Caroline County Department of Social Services, which oversees CPS, did not respond to requests for comment.

Ben Shnider, director of communications for the state Department of Human Services, which oversees the Caroline County department, wrote in an email to the Star Democrat, 鈥淭he safety and well-being of Maryland鈥檚 children is our highest priority, and local departments of social services respond to every report of alleged child abuse or neglect.鈥�

According to Department of Human Services policy, the Caroline County Child Protective Services response times fall within the guidelines for responding to reports for the examples that Baker cited.

The policy calls for:

• Answering calls of physical or sexual abuse within 24 hours.
• Answering calls for reports of neglect within five calendar days.
• Answering calls for cases of substance-exposed newborns within 48 hours.

But Baker and Franklin said this policy leaves law enforcement to act as a middle man, but addressing the problem is complicated.

The Caroline County Department of Social Services is a state-run agency over which the county has no control, making it difficult for local agencies and officials to affect change, Franklin said.

鈥淚 have no power to enforce changes, I can only make recommendations,鈥� Franklin said.

Baker and Franklin said there have been unfulfilled promises of solutions since the problems began during the pandemic but were vague as to what those problems and promises were, saying they wanted to preserve their working relationships with CPS.

Both said they want a better working relationship with Child Protective Services. State law mandates law enforcement agencies working with CPS.

After-hours reports of child neglect or abuse can be handled in a few different ways. In cases involving high or even moderate risks, a Child Protective Services case worker should be automatically dispatched, but if they cannot respond, law enforcement, generally the sheriff鈥檚 office, will be sent.

Because of the mandated joint investigations, Baker said law enforcement officers have been picking up the slack when the case workers do not arrive, leading to increased frustration by the officers on the scene.

Part of the problem may be vacancies in the state Department of Human Services where there is a 7% vacancy rate, although Baker said he thinks the root cause stems from procedural and cultural issues that start with upper management.

鈥淚 would say that everything starts from upper management and works its way down as far as a cultural issue,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I think that there are some procedural issues within the agency itself.鈥�

Baker spent a majority of his career working in child abuse investigations and said they are near and dear to his heart.

鈥淚 know how hard that is, so it鈥檚 very disheartening to me when we do not have good partners,鈥� Baker said.

Shnider, the Department of Human Services communications director, said his agency 鈥渋s committed to holding ourselves accountable.鈥� His email statement said the department will address any systemic issues that are identified through the investigation.

鈥淎ny failure to respond to a report of abuse or neglect in a timely manner is unacceptable,鈥� Shnider said. 鈥淲hen mistakes are made, we hold ourselves accountable and take action to ensure we do better moving forward.鈥�

In the meantime, Baker and Franklin hope the investigation will bring systemic change that will enhance their partnerships and the safety of the children in Caroline County.

鈥淚 hope that some accountability and changes will come to better protect the kids,鈥� Franklin said.