Valva Review Shows System Did Not Protect Autistic Kids: Bellone

CENTER MORICHES, NY — Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced the results Wednesday of an internal review of Department of Social Services' procedures and procedures sparked by the death Thomas Valva, 8 — who, according to authorities, died of hypothermia after he was left overnight in the frigid garage of the Center Moriches home belonging to his father and his father's fiance.

At the same time, Suffolk County Legislators Rob Trotta and Anthony Piccirillo cried out for change of a system they said was broken, introducing legislation, named the Thomas Valva Act, that would create an inspector general's office to investigate charges of corruption and misconduct in government; a public hearing on the legislation was held Tuesday in Riverhead.

Justyna Zubko-Valva, Thomas' mother, however, spoke out against the proposed Thomas Valva Act Tuesday and said she does not want her son's name on the bill. Instead, she outlined the changes she said are needed to protect children from abuse.

Bellone and Deputy Presiding Officer Kara Hahn announced the Child Protective Services Transformation Act, a comprehensive plan of action that they said will institute new measures to strengthen the Suffolk County Child Protective Services system, improve oversight functions, and institute new safeguards to protect children.

“These reforms will ensure that CPS will never operate in the same way again, and that is appropriate because what happened to Thomas Valva can never happen again,” said Bellone. “At the very least, it is our obligation to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to prevent such a terrible tragedy. We can’t stop someone from being evil, but we can make sure that the systems in place to protect children are operating as efficiently and effectively as possible."

After Thomas died on Jan. 17, Bellone said Suffolk County would commence an internal review of Department of Social Services procedures and protocols.

On Jan. 24, Suffolk County homicide detectives arrested Michael Valva, 40, and Valva's fiancée, Angela Pollina, 42, of Bittersweet Lane in Center Moriches. Both were charged with second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, police said.

They pleaded not guilty; both are being held without bail. If convicted, the couple faces 25 years to life in prison.

Although his father initially reported that Thomas died after a fall in the driveway, gruesome details emerged at a press conference by Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart.

Thomas Valva officially died of hypothermia, according to the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, Hart said. "We believe that he was kept in the garage overnight preceding his death," Hart said, adding that when he was found, the boy's body temperature was 76 degrees and he had head and facial injuries that did not align with Valva's account of what had happened.

Thomas and Anthony were undernourished, begging for food, and foraging through the garbage at school and for crumbs because they were "so hungry," Assistant District Attorney Keriann Kelly said, as she painted a verbal image in court of the house where Thomas died.. The boys, she said, were physically abused; during one incident, Pollina "dragged Thomas and threw him down the stairs," Kelly said. They were sent to school in urine-soaked soiled diapers, she said.

Valva is due back in court Thursday, when the judge will decide if he can afford to hire an attorney or hire court-appointed representation.

A system not set up to protect children on the autism spectrum, Bellone says

Bellone worked with Presiding Officer Rob Calarco to establish an external task force that would review all Child Protective Services' policies and procedures relating to children with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Thomas, he said, is believed to have been on the autism spectrum. The task force will review procedures for how services are provided to children with autism or other developmental challenges under current law, determine if the current system leaves children with disabilities more vulnerable, and whether additional safeguards need to be enacted.

The CPS Transformation Act is based on the discussions and recommendations of the external task force, Bellone said.

The most important finding of the internal review, he said, was that the system was not set up to effectively protect children on the autism spectrum or other children with developmental disabilities.

Recent studies have shown that children with autism spectrum disorder are more likely to face maltreatment and abuse, Bellone said.

To that end, the CPS Transformation Act consists of six bills designed to address the current "lapses in the system" as well as additional areas where reform is necessary, he said.

Those bills include measures to create a specialized unit for children with special needs; the law would also set the process for the automatic escalated review of recurring reports once a certain volume threshold has been reached. The law would mandate higher level reviews for specific types of cases for those involving four or more reports of unique incidents, or six or more reports of the same incident, Bellone said.

In addition, the bill would also create a new designation unique to Suffolk County CPS: "unfounded due to insufficient evidence". Nearly 77 percent of all CPS cases are reported as unfounded statewide and the number is 81 percent in Suffolk County, Bellone's release said.

Currently, he added, there is no way to distinguish though whether a case was unfounded because the caseworker has concluded that the report is false or because they believe they do not have sufficient evidence to indicate the case and bring it to court. With the new standard of "unfounded due to insufficient evidence," any new report that comes in after such a designation would trigger a higher level review.

The second bill would implement new investigative training requirements for all CPS caseworkers, and mandate training for the new specialized unit within Suffolk County CPS to handle cases of alleged child abuse, neglect and/or maltreatment of children with autism or other special needs cases.

Implicit bias training will also be required for investigators, Bellone said.

Third, a bill will mandate increased scrutiny for cases reported by certain school officials. The fourth bill would establish criminal penalties for knowingly recording CPS interviews with children without the consent of the investigator, a violation up to $1,000.

The fifth bill will establish caseload standards for Suffolk County CPS caseworkers based on the New York State recommended number of caseloads per caseworker; no caseworker will be permitted to carry a caseload greater than 15 cases, Bellone said, adding that the law would also set the process for corrective action if the caseload limit is exceeded for four consecutive months.

Finally, the sixth bill would provide for greater transparency for the public and create a modernized database within CPS.

Nicole Weidenbaum, Nassau Suffolk Services for Autism, said: “I have worked with children with autism and their families for over 25 years. The Valva case is beyond heartbreaking but it is not enough to wallow in our grief. We needed to take immediate action."

Proposed new bill sparks ire

Trotto, however, said he and Piccirillo proposed the new Thomas Valva Act because independent review was critical. "We have a dead child and an incompetent Suffolk County Executive," he said. "This will start to hold people accountable. The problem with government is there's no accountability."

Zubko-Valva, however, said Tuesday that she did not want her son's name on the legislation.

In a statement to Patch, she said: "This law is outrageous, not acceptable and allows for the corruption to increase in measure, and the victims of this abusive system to be more victimized and harmed — as my children and I were for years," she said. "The corruption is not going to stop if the individuals who were involved in purposely hiding the severe abuse of my children and me are not going to be held accountable for their criminal actions to the highest extent of the law. The corruption is not going to stop if this system is not going to be fixed immediately."

Zubko-Valva said she believes CPS caseworkers, attorneys for the children, and forensic evaluators should have to wear body cameras during all their interactions with the children and parties involved and that court proceedings should be video recorded "to avoid manipulation with the court transcripts and fight the corruption in the justice system. Those are the basic steps that will initiate the fight against this enormous corruption and will protect the children and all the innocent people involved."

Trotto said he has text messages from Zubko-Valva telling him the legislation could be named for her son but, he added, "she is under a lot of stress. She doesn't trust the government. If she doesn't want her son's name on the bill, no problem."